Lloyd Robert Zimmerman

Lloyd was born to parents’ Gustav and Olga Zimmeran on April 29, 1927 in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and was the second oldest of six brothers. The Zimmerman family lived and farmed near Congress, Saskatchewan. Lloyd attended Welcome Elementary School and Progress Hill High School at Congress up until grade 11. He received his grade 12 diploma from Limerick High School while boarding with an Uncle. The family had no money for further education, so after he graduated, Lloyd worked as a farm hand and a lumberjack. Believing this was not the life he wanted for himself; Lloyd saved up some money and in 1946, enrolled in Normal School in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In 1947, he started his first full year of teaching at a country school in the Hinton area and at that time, his salary was less than $1000 per year. When his Mother died in 1949, Lloyd helped raise his younger siblings by taking his two youngest brothers with him to his next teaching position in Crestmont, Saskatchewan. Lloyd was very dedicated to his profession and throughout his teaching career continued his education, receiving two degrees, a bachelor of Education in 1962 and later a Bachelor of Arts in 1968. In 1957, Lloyd taught high school in Lashburn, Saskatchewan where he met his future wife, Fern Kitching. They were married July 1958 and moved to Turtleford, Saskatchewan where they started a family. Lloyd "Eric" was born July 1961 and Linda Faye was adopted in 1965. During his time in Turtleford, Lloyd obtained property at Turtle Lake, Saskatchewan where he and his family enjoyed many summers of fishing, boating, swimming and relaxation. This property has now become his legacy, which will be passed on from generation to generation for his family to enjoy. He continued to teach the senior math’s and sciences in Turtleford until 1972, when he took a teaching assignment in Ogema, Saskatchewan. He continued to teach at Ogema High school for another decade until his retirement in 1982. In 1992, Lloyd and Fern moved to North Battleford, Saskatchewan to be closer to the lake and their children; he resided there until 2015 when he moved to Luxstone Manor in Airdrie, Alberta to be closer to his son, Eric. Now in his early 90's, Lloyd enjoyed doing his artwork, puzzles, suduko, playing games, visiting the lake, attending family get togethers and doing his own income tax. He was still very active at the age of 93 and thankfully was able to spend time at the lake with his family and meet his first great granddaughter, just a week before his passing.

Throughout Lloyd's life, he was very active in his community. He enjoyed many activities such as curling, bowling, volunteer work for various charity and fundraising events and held positions on many arts councils, church boards, curling clubs and the Battleford and District Chapter of the STS. He loved to paint, using oils and acrylics, creating paintings depicting lake scenes and sunsets, old farm homesteads and heritage buildings and on occasion, wildlife. He also enjoyed photography and gardening. He had a green thumb and lovingly tended to his gardens, yard and house plants.

Lloyd was a friendly character who always greeted people with an infectious smile and was famous for his strong, genuine hugs. In fact he was gifted a t-shirt from the cleaning staff at Luxstone Manor proclaiming him the “The World's Greatest Hugger”; a possession that he was very proud of. He kept his sense of humour and love for life (and gifts) right up to his last breathe. Lloyd was by no means perfect, but undeniably made this world a better place for those that knew him. He will be greatly missed.

Lloyd lived a long, eventful life and said goodbye to many of his family and friends through the years. He is survived by his two children, Eric and Linda (Ken); his grandchildren, Cougan (Melanie), Sasha (Tom), Nicole and Zachary and his great granddaughter, Alexis. He also leaves behind his two brothers, Leo (Donna) and Alvin (Elsie) and numerous nieces and nephews. A celebration of life will be held at his beloved lake property in the summer of 2021.