Albert Gordon Edward Sones

8:30 p.m. on January 22 in Kelowna General Hospital. Born on August

13, 1936 in St. Lambert, Quebec and raised in nearby Greenfield Park.

Predeceased by his brother Reg and sister Isobel. Abby’s parents, Albert (Bert), passed away in 1963, and Lilian (Lil),

passed away in 1974, were both born in England before immigrating to

Canada. The best thing that Abby’s parents taught him was “To always

be honest, have respect for older people and to always be friendly

with everybody”. These traits have been passed on to Abby’s 3 sons,

NOT by his words, but by his actions. Abby spent most of his youth

playing many sports, excelling in softball, hockey and football.

Softball was his favourite sport and playing catcher was his favourite

position as it meant “ I was always involved in the game”. Leaving

school after Grade 8, Abby went to go to work to help support his family as

Abby’s dad had lost his hearing and most of his vision due to

diabetes. This showed at an early age how important family was and

would always be in Abby’s life. In his early 20’s, Abby coached minor

football and was a scoutmaster in Greenfield Park as well as playing men's fastball. In 1962, Abby met

the love of his life, Anne Talbot, and by 1963, the 2 were married.

The two of them had been married just over sixty-two years at the time of his passing.

From 1964-1969, three sons….Ken (Hedy), Kevin (Sabrina) and Derrick (Lana),

made Abby and Anne a family of five. In 1974, Abby took a job at C.P. Air

in Richmond, B.C…..with his airline passes, the family was able to

travel many times. Coaching all three sons in hockey, at various times in

their youth, kept Abby very busy……but he enjoyed every minute of it.

Abby also got back into fastball in the late 70’s, this time as an

umpire…..becoming the senior umpire at a few big tournaments. In 1988,

Abby and Anne started their love of cruising. Over the next thirty years,

the two cruised over thirty times. Abby retired from his airline job in

July, 1994. In 1998, Abby and Anne moved to Kelowna. Abby was

instrumental, with a few other retired airline employees, in 1999,

starting the Ambassadors Program at the Kelowna Airport. Abby also did

the ski hosting program, helping visitors who were flying into Kelowna Airport,

get to Big White, Apex, Silverstar and Red Mountain. A big Montreal

Canadiens and Alouettes fan while in Quebec, Abby transitioned after living in B.C., to support his

beloved Canucks and B.C. Lions in the 80's and onwards. Abby and Anne were season

ticket holders to their beloved Kelowna Rockets junior hockey team,

witnessing them win the Memorial Cup in Kelowna in 2004. Since the

early 2000’s, Abby and Anne, would be known to watch almost every

Toronto BlueJays game on tv. Grandkids would come Abby and Anne's way over the years with....Kailey (Rodney) Shanks, Ashley (Misha) Otanga, Step grandchildren Danielle (Christopher) Dutka, Jeremy Fisher, Nicole (Steve) Zack, Nick (Nicole) Pemble and Savannah (Nathan) Olson as well as 9 great-grandkids. A perfect day for Abby was“waking up in the morning, knowing I am alive to see my wife, kids and

great friends, then going to bed and repeating everything over the

next day”. Abby was always a kind hearted, fair, fun loving

man who was always there for both his family and friends.…..willing to help anyone out with a

ride to wherever he or she needed to go. A man of many titles…..Son, Brother, Husband, Dad, Grandpa

and Great Grandpa…….Abby will be missed by many, BUT NEVER forgotten.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.firstmemorialkelowna.com for the Sones family.