Kenneth David Collie

Left to mourn are his bride of 53 years, Laverne (Markham), his children Shayne (Corinne) Collie, Kim (Mark) Glasman and Wendy (Ryan) Thys, his grandchildren Kalem, Cody (Jalycia), Emily, Jaynie, Anna, Robin, Sienna and Aryn.

Ken was born in Meadowlake, SK to Stan and Evelyn Collie. He spent his childhood in numerous northern Canadian communities with his parents who were missionaries with N.C.E.M.

At the age of 17, he enrolled in college at Millar Memorial Bible Institute in Pamburn, SK, where he attended for 4 years.

His love for aircraft began at an early age and led him to study and become an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer. A career he held from 1964 until his retirement at the age of 65 in 2006. His love of aircraft never wavered.

EULOGY

So, my dad loved my mom. He was smitten by her 53 years ago and that flame and passion for her never ended. They met way up North in the isolated community of Churchill, Manitoba...beyond the tree line and just south of the Arctic Circle. Dad figured she was the hottest thing that ever showed up North of the 58th Parallel. He was smitten, Ken did everything possible to win this girl's heart. They met at the Alliance church young adult group. He joined a singing group because she did and sang in duets. He even sang on the local TV station just to be with her. Their first date alone was a movie night. They went to see the animated Disney film "The Jungle Book", a nice safe movie. Dad was forced to make his own entertainment and he was motivated to try his hardest to win this girl over. Ken organized picnics, BBQs and outings to see "the sights on the Tundra." Dad managed to get invited to formal events at the Armed Forces Base. He even befriended a Professional French chef who was stranded in Churchill and found work at the Hotel. Rumour has it that the ship he worked on was iced in for the winter. To help Dad woo Mom, the chef would make a weekly fine dining experience for the couple to enjoy. Good on you Dad!! I can't think of anyone else who could have pulled something like that off. Ken was smitten. He found the love of his life. As a final check before asking mom to marry him, Dad told me he took a trip "south" before he proposed just to make sure she was actually good-looking and he wasn't snow blind. He realized that she was everything he wanted and more...so he proposed. That passion and love for my mom lasted till their last kiss 3 weeks ago. If you had to choose something to be lucky in. Love would be a good choice. My dad was happy all his life.

As a result they had 3 kids and we all knew we were second place to mom. It wasn't a bad second place to be in.

Dads primary love language was building and fixing. He got pleasure from watching his family enjoy the things he created.. Early memories include a playhouse and an insanely fast sled. The playhouse was built in the basement for my sisters to play in during the cold Manitoba winters. This playhouse included everything even a stove, fridge, table, chairs, and beds. A large train table was made for me that was placed away from my sisters so we wouldn't fight. As for the insanely fast sled, Dad made out of an old pair of downhill skis and scrap aluminum from work. It would fit 6 kids on it and it was so fast that you'd be praying that you'd land on a softer smaller kid if you crashed.

Winters also included building snow caves, forts, snowshoeing and skiing. Ken also built a cabin on Lake Winnipeg for his family to enjoy. When he was working on projects, he always took time to teach us. Skills like carpentry, plumbing, wiring and cement work were taught. All good life skills to have. Later on, this evolved into teaching us mechanics and vehicle repair to make sure his kids were safe on the road. Ryan and Mark, your wives know more than you think.

Summer activities had to include a lake. As soon as the ice came off the lakes, he was in the water. Summers would include hours and hours on a beach. Either camping in our tent trailer or the cabin at Lake Winnipeg. I remember Dad swimming under my kayak and rolling it on me. He would launch my sisters into the air and laugh when they squealed before hitting the water. If we got too cold swimming, he would help us make sand castles and forts on the shore. Evenings would always include a walk on the beach and skipping rocks or taking a canoe out for a long paddle.

Ken would take time to wrestle and play games with us.Things like playing house or Barbies with my sisters, and playing cars with me or Tonkas in the sandbox was a common occurrence. We would often play board games as a family in the evenings. Side note: Dad would never play catch or kick a ball around with us. It never clued in till later on that Dad was blind in one eye. He had no depth perception and couldn't catch a blessed thing. I'm still pretty embarrassed at how badly I throw a baseball.

Ken was an avid gardener and liked a challenge. One year he decided to grow grapes and was pretty successful. It actually made the news when the Winnipeg Freepress wrote a full page article about it. I remember the grapes being so sour that they would make my teeth hurt. At one point, Mom and Dad had three gardens going. One in the city, one at Great Uncle Pat's, and one at the cabin. Dad also loved to cook. He had a passion for the grill. May that be open fire, hibachi, coals, or bbq he loved them all. It didn't matter how cold it was either. I've seen him flipping burgers in a parka. It was always a joy to be invited over and test out the new creations he made.

Dad would fish with us once in a while but never hunted. He told me that ever since he could afford to buy meat in a store he stopped hunting. The way he talked, I don't think he ate beef till he was a teenager. Moose, deer, caribou, lake trout and pickerel was all he ate. Pike was only caught to feed the dogs. You see, my dad was born into a poor missionary family in Northern Saskatchewan. He was the middle child of 11. Dad said at meal times he had to get his food quickly or there would be nothing left. His dad, Stan Collie, had started the Northern Canada Evangelical Mission and he was always proud of that. My dad grew up around sled dogs, float planes, horses and boats. December 8th, 1941 at 8 days old, Kenny had his first plane and dog sled ride. Ken spoke enough Cree to get him in...or out of trouble.

Ken was a joker and liked to play pranks. While attending Miller Memorial Bible Institute he would regularly play pranks like greasing door knobs and placing buckets of water above door frames. Flour over shower stalls, and blocking up cars so the wheels wouldn't touch the ground. He was so notorious for his pranks that he was blamed for letting a calf loose in the girls' dorm, but that was something he denied till the day he died. When he was working for the forestry department, he would place a radio under the outhouse. "Hey!! we're working down here!!" In terms of his kids, I remember getting really upset when Dad used re-lighting candles on my birthday cake when I was 5.Every time they re-lite he would say "wow!! five more girlfriends!! " If we were hiking over a bridge he would hide under the bridge and pretend to be a troll and scare my sisters. Wendy was the favorite, so he hardly ever played jokes on her. I could go on, but I don't want to influence the younger kids in the audience.

After Bible College and a number of different jobs, Dad settled into being an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer. He inspected and fixed planes and helicopters for 40 years. Everything from single seater biplanes to 400 seat passenger planes. He fixed them all and it gave him an interesting life. From crash recoveries in the high Arctic to disaster relief assignments in Guatemala, he did it all. His job gave him opportunities to meet and talk with famous people. Some he liked such as Prince Philip or Johnny Cash, and some he didn't like, such as Pierre Trudeau. Ken was well respected, well liked and well known in Aviation. Amazingly enough there are many people in the industry who still knew him or knew of him. Not bad for a guy who retired seventeen years ago. I work with AMEs who knew him well and they said he was a guy worth knowing. He was known for his quick wit and good sense of humour, a guy who was willing to help or share his knowledge and tricks. He was solid and reliable, a good friend to have.

The only thing dad loved more than mom was God. Growing up on the mission field never soured his desire to pursue a life that honoured God. Simple rules that Ken lived by:

1) Treat people how you want to be treated.

2) Be slow to speak, quick to listen, and release enough of the inner hooligan to be interesting.

3) A kind word, a quick smile, or an awful dad joke goes a long way.

Dad figured out a long time ago that you can't win anyone to Christ. No amount of telling, arguing, convincing or anything else can convince someone to be a Christian. That's God's job. Dad lived a life of genuine love, joy and peace.He lived a life worth living. Ken's legacy continues with Mom, his kids and grandkids. Thank you for joining us in celebrating and honouring this man today.

By Shayne Collie

Tribute by Bill Collie

Some Memories of our Brother Ken

I remember seeing our playful, pleasant, actually ‘cute’ little brother, “Kenny” (we called him back then), probably about 4 years old, sitting on the ground, picking berries off the little bushes he was sitting among, and eating the delicious wild fruit. There were little patches of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries that grew naturally throughout that part of our yard. Some of our yard had been cleared of trees and shrubs so we also had plenty of open space to play between the house and the lake.

Another memory of Ken’s early life was not near as pleasant, actually it was scary! There was a stairway, in that first house, that went up to the second floor where all of us children slept. One evening while Ken was scampering up, he fell off sideways, tumbled head first from near the top of the stairs, unto the barrel-shaped wood burning heater! It probably did more damage to his neck than anyone suspected back then. In fact, years later he had an incident that required x-rays of his upper body that showed that he had definitely suffered a serious “trauma” to his neck at an early age.

One autumn day, just after the lake froze over, several of us were enjoying gliding around with very old- fashioned skates. Ken was laying face-down, on a sled, being pulled by one of us older brothers, when the heel of a skate came up and hit him on the forehead hard enough to make a gash on his forehead, much too close to his eyes! One of the hazards of having older siblings!

In 1962, on our way to spend Christmas with my parents and family, Audrey and I stopped at Miller Memorial Bible Institute at Pambrun, SK. We picked up Ken and his Greek friend (fellow student), Costus. It was a cold trip through Saskatchewan, and it only got colder into Manitoba! At The Pas it was cold outside (-52 F.) but warm inside and a lot of fun together, decorating the tree, visiting, eating and generally having a good break from our usual routine of work and/or studies.

Another time Ken and I were connected for a while, was working for Engel Brothers in Woodrow, SK. installing sewer and water pipes in southern Saskatchewan communities. It was mostly heavy, dusty, manual work but Ken did his part just fine! He was probably pretty glad to get back that fall for the next term, to the dorm, his classmates and maybe even the dining room!

We didn’t communicate much back then and after a few years, I found out that he was working as an aircraft mechanic up at Churchill, MB. It seemed to be a good choice for him and he obviously did well at his chosen occupation right through to his retirement.

When we lived in Lloydminster, my parents gave us their little cabin north of Meadow Lake on Jeanette Lake. So, many of our long weekends and holidays were spent there. One Friday evening we drove up to be there for the weekend and discovered that we had company! Ken and Laverne were there at the cabin for part of their honeymoon! It was a very nice surprise for us see Ken again and meet his lovely bride!

Probably my fondest memories of Ken, was seeing him in his role of being a husband, father and grandfather! Judging from what we have all observed, he unabashedly loved and adored you, Laverne!

It was so pleasant to hear him talk and tell us about what various children and grandchildren were involved in whether it was for hobbies, work, training or Christian service and ministry. He was so proud of all of you!

You, his family and all you grandchildren, have each helped make him a happy man!

Ken loved God and served Him faithfully. I look forward to meeting him in heaven when God calls me home.

May God bless each of you as you continue on, without Ken, but with many good memories of him!

Brother Bill

In 1969, he met and fell in love with his perfect match, Laverne Markham. They were married July 11, 1970 in Flin Flon, MB.

They started their life together in Churchill, MB, moving to Prince Albert, SK, Winnipeg, MB and Airdrie, AB. The last eight years of his life was spent in Lamont, AB.

Everywhere he went, he made an effort to be involved in the Church and the community. He was an example to us all and touched many lives.

A celebration of his life will be held at Lamont Alliance Church(5007 46th St, Lamont) on July 29th at 3pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorials be made to N.C.E.M. (https://ncem.ca/donate/).

This is a ministry that has remained close to Ken's heart and he has supported his entire life.

To view the video tribute please go to https://youtu.be/4pmRfaSB4Uc and to view his memorial service please go to https://youtu.be/LKtivoHvwww