Terrance Stanley Lloyd

Fontana, CA — Terrance (Terry) Stanley Lloyd, a long-time resident of both Ontario and then San Bernardino, California, passed away Tuesday, the 18th of April, at Kaiser Hospital, Fontana, from an infected gallbladder.

Terry was born March 20, 1942, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. After his dad returned from WWII in late 1945, he and his parents settled in Kimberley, British Columbia, until 1957 when they immigrated to Ontario, California. By then he had two sisters as well.

He attended Chaffey High School and Chaffey College. In March 1965, he volunteered to join the Army just as his father had done during wartime. Much to his dad’s relief, he was sent to Korea instead of Viet Nam. There he rose in rank to Specialist 5 (Technical) and was the General’s driver while stationed in Korea. He earned the national defense service medal. During his leave, he traveled to Japan and brought home beautiful souvenir gifts for his family and friends.

Upon return, he worked as a brakeman for Santa Fe Railroad for nearly ten years but always had an entrepreneurial spirit so went into the trucking business hauling rocks and other materials in places as far away as Montana. After a period of time, he was able to buy a dozer and then other heavy-duty equipment and worked on many construction jobs including the Port of Long Beach project. He was still working right up until a year ago. Terry was a self-made man; his family gave him much love and support but were not able to help him financially. He asked for nothing and expected nothing; he worked hard and made it on his own. Then when he could, he helped others starting with his family. For example, he bought both of his sisters their first cars so they could go to college. He helped his son get started in the dozer business. Later, when he had lots of property, he would let people stay who had nowhere else to go. We called it Terry Town.

During these years, Terry traveled to many parts of the world. He, along with a friend, hitchhiked all over Europe, he visited his father’s ancestral home in Wales and his mother’s family home in Scotland. He really enjoyed going to various countries in South America and went there many times. He went back to Canada regularly to visit friends and relatives in the prairie provinces where his mom and dad grew up. He had many good memories of going to his grandpa’s farm in Alberta as a child, so he returned as often as he could. During his life, he stayed in touch with his many pals in Kimberley, B.C., and attended all the reunions and other special events. He would drive miles to visit friends and family, have a short but treasured visit, and then be on his way. Like his father, he was a quiet man of few words, but everything he said was wise and meaningful. He was a free spirit, always on the go pursuing his interests and passions, of which he had many. Sometime he travelled with a friend; other times he went alone, but he always made friends along the way as he was truly a polite, respectful, and interesting person.

He was also curious and interested in his surroundings especially things of nature. He took hundreds of beautiful photographs during his travels, some winning awards. He was also the family photographer, and we are blessed that he captured so many moments of the precious times we spent together. He also collected dozens of unusual rocks along the way and brought them to his mom, who was also a nature lover. He was such a thoughtful son, brother, and father.

Terry loved vintage cars and trucks, and he collected many to restore driving to all parts of Canada and the United States to pick them up. He was primarily interested in the cars from the 40s and 50s inspired by ones he admired as a kid—especially the ’53 Oldsmobile Super 88 that his grandfather owned. He was an early riser and went to swap meets and car shows/auctions regularly.

Another passion of Terry’s was to sail his catamaran. It was docked in Long Beach Harbor and lots of fun hours were spent on it with friends and family. Eventually he had it brought via the Panama Canal to his trailer park in Panama City, Florida, and he looked forward to the times he could go there for rest and relaxation.

When he lived in Canada, Terry played hockey and skied. As a viewer, he enjoyed watching hockey and football, but the sport he followed most of his life was boxing. When we moved to Ontario in 1957, our family had never owned a television. With the money he saved picking corn in South Ontario, he was able to buy one just in time to watch a very important boxing match. We all gathered in his room to share this momentous occasion. In the last year, he enjoyed watching the travel shows, Rick Steves’ Europe and Huell Howser’s California Gold, with his two special dogs by his side: Scooter and Lucky—plus a couple of strays he had taken in. He also loved to share books that he collected as well as his latest photographs (or the ones in our picture box from when we were growing up).

Terry was a complex and unique man—truly one of a kind—shaped by his Canadian roots and by the possibilities before him in the new country he embraced 65 years ago. And now, as always, Terry is gone too soon leaving us wishing he’d stay just a little longer. He was loved so very much and will be missed immeasurably.

Terry is preceded in death by his parents, Stanley and Lillian Lloyd, his sister Janie Lloyd, and his son Tony Lloyd. He is survived by his son Brian Lloyd, sister Linda (Eric) Cadd, granddaughters Heather (Eric) Barocio and Hannah (Jacob) Cortez, grandson Anthony Lloyd, nieces Sara Cadd and Karen (James) Vedder, five great grandchildren and 3 great nieces.

A graveside military service will be held on Friday, May 19, 2023, at 9:45 a.m. at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Boulevard, Riverside, California.