Arthur Jean DeGagne

It is with deep sorrow that we mourn the sudden passing of Arthur Jean DeGagne, 83 years old, of Merritt, BC on August 3, 2021. Arthur was struggling with the loss of his wife of 62 years Carmel Marie Rose DeGagne, who passed away 2 months before Art on June 4, 2021.

He leaves behind his 4 daughters Deborah (Brian) of Surrey, BC, Carole (Brad) of Stoney Creek, ON, Louise (Al) of Logan Lake, BC and Sandra (John) of Merritt, BC., his grandchildren Ashleigh (Kyle), Joshua (Shawna), Cameron, Samantha, Lance, Colton, Mitchell and James; his great-grandchildren Madeleine, Kayden and Judah, as well as his sisters Lucie, Florence, Anita and Yvette, his brothers Emile and Rene. His brother Alphonse passed away 6 days after Arthur on August 9, 2021.

Arthur retired from Hayes Dana after 35 years of service in Winnipeg, Burnaby and Kelowna. Arthur was a loving father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother and a friend to all who knew him. He was dedicated to his wife all of his life, especially the last 4 years as she suffered with Alzheimer’s. He visited her every day. We will truly miss our wonderful, loving, patient father. He was admired by his daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren.

We will not forget his warm smile and kind heart. He has now joined our mom in heaven and they are finally dancing together. Arthur leaves the world a better place.

Funeral to be announced at a later date.

In lieu of flowers please donate to the Alzheimer’s Society of BC.

Eulogy:

Hello, my name is Deborah Nichol and I am the eldest daughter of Arthur Jean DeGagne. We want to thank everyone for joining us today to celebrate the life of our Father who was suddenly taken from us on August 3rd. As many of you know our mother, Carmel Marie DeGagne was taken from us on June 4th. I am here today to tell you about our father, which is very hard for me.

Arthur Jean DeGagne was born on August 12, 1937 in Labroquerie, Manitoba. He was actually born in the little house where they lived. His parents are Eliza and Lucien DeGagne. He was the oldest of 8 children.

Dad loved living on the farm and talked about it often. He would follow his father everywhere and learned to drive the tractor before 14 years old. He would chase the cows back into the barn. Once when chasing the cows back into the yard one of the cows stepped on the barb wire fence. When the wire snapped back up it hit my dad in the arm giving him a lifelong scar.

I also heard a lovely story of when Dad and his sister Lucie went to school. In the winter the dog would pull them on the sled to the school. The dog would wait in the shed during the day. Then in the afternoon the dog would pull them back home. One day the dog came home and there were no children on the sled. Dad and Lucie had fallen off. Grandpa immediately yelled for the dog to go back and get them. Sure enough they arrived back safely. Also in the winter Dad and his family would go to church in the wagon pulled by horses and the kids would cover up with wool blankets to protect them from the cold and wind.

Eventually his family left the farm and moved to St. Boniface. They attended ….school. They would walk home for lunch and my grandmother would give them a nickel to buy an apple on the way back. Dad eventually started working. He loved to drive cars and hang out with his cousins.

My parents met through family at a “social”, fell in love and married on August 1, 1959 in St. Boniface Cathedral. In January 1961 they had their first daughter. That would be me.

Eventually Mom and Dad bought their first little house in Windsor Park, Manitoba. In February 1963 their 2nd daughter Carole was born. We lived in that house for two years while Mom worked at Eaton’s and Dad had started his career at Hayes-Dana.

Eventually Dad was asked to help open a plant for Hayes-Dana in Burnaby, BC. This was a big move but we bought a house in the French community of Maillardville, Coquitlam. We loved living there and I remember Dad would cut the lawn, prune the trees, work in our garden and enjoyed visiting with neighbours and relatives who lived in the neighbourhood. We attended Our Lady of Fatima church for many years.

On July 16th, 1965 their 3rd daughter Louise was born, on mom’s birthday. Another daughter for Dad.

Then on July 20, 1969 their 4th daughter Sandra came along. When Dad brought mom and Sandy home from the hospital us girls were visiting friends at the top of the hill. I remember clearly running down that hill me first, closely followed by Carole and then Louise. We were so excited to see our new baby sister.

In 1971 Dad and Mom picked a vacant lot in Maple Ridge where they would build their new house. Dad loved working on that house. When we moved in there was no flooring, no cupboards and no inside doors on any of the room. He worked hard to finish it. Dad had help from his cousin Roger Jolicoeur, his uncle Noel Chartier and my grandpa, Lucien DeGagne.

I remember him working on the roof, hammering drywall and laying down flooring in the bedrooms. It was a good thing mom did the decorating as Dad was colour blind, something he passed down to 3 of his grandsons. Dad put a massive roof over the patio and in the summer we entertained family and friends there for many years.

When they were in Maple Ridge Dad was a part of the Knights of Columbus and chairman of the Bingo committee at St. Patrick’s church for many years.

Dad continued to work as the manager of Hayes-Dana. When Dad was 55 years old he had a serious accident at work and broke his hip. After rehabilitation it slowed Dad down but never stopped him.

I felt extremely loved by Dad. He loved all his daughters very much. We often teased Dad about losing all his hair because of all the girls in his household. It couldn’t have been easy living with all of us emotional and dramatic girls especially when we were teenagers, and especially when the boys started calling.

In October 2019 our Dad decided to take his 4 daughters to Las Vegas for a 4 day weekend. We loved our time there with Dad. Dad visited the casinos but he also wanted to see the sights. One of the evenings Dad and I went out for dinner together and then watched Cirque de Soleil. He loved every minute and actually stayed awake the whole time. It was really one of the best vacations I ever had because it meant spending precious time with Dad and my sisters.

Five years ago, my husband Brian and I, Ashleigh and her family (Kyle, Madeleine and Kayden) and my parents went on an Alaskan cruise together. We had a wonderful time with them, a very special memory. Mom and Dad enjoyed going on cruises, and went on several with other family members to Alaska, Hawaii and with Louise and Al to the Mediterranean.

Dad and his brother, Uncle Al were extremely close, spending many summers together with both families in the Okanagan. Later in retirement Mom, Dad Uncle Al and Auntie Helen spent many winters in Arizona and Mexico. Dad and Uncle Al were two peas in a pod. They were often lost in conversation oblivious to others around them. They were always joking and I heard looking for the best parking spot! Driving their wives crazy! We spent many fun times with them, memories we will treasure. Sadly Dad’s brother Alphonse passed away just 6 days after him.

A few years back I had the opportunity to go visit Mom and Dad on one of their trips to Yuma, Arizona. Walmarts in Yuma are massive. We usually went to Walmart a few times a week but on my first trip there Dad tuned to the left and mom to the right. I watched Dad disappear in a sea of older men all with grey hair and balding, wearing baseball caps, khaki shorts “world’s best grandfather t-shirts and sandals with socks. All of the older women wore pastel button up blouse, beige capris and poufy hair. I followed mom very close, because I didn’t want to get lost. I could imagine myself at the customer service desk with the cashier announcing, “Would the parents of lost woman named Debbie please come to customer service” We did eventually find Dad, as mom said he would be sitting in McDonald’s drinking his coffee, waiting for us along with all the other senior men.

Dad loved his grandchildren very much. Ashleigh, Joshua, Cameron, Samantha, Lance, Colton, Mitchell and James, and his great-grandchildren Madeleine, Kayden and Judah. When my 3 children were little Dad would sometimes drive by our house on his way home from work just to say hello to them. They all loved their Grandpa. He loved to joke and play with them. He never missed a birthday or special occasion. Our Dad taught us a lot about working hard and taking good care of your family.

I loved spending time with Dad, especially in the last few years, all of us did. I enjoyed our conversations so much. We talked every few days and often reminisced about the days gone by. Many of those conversations were about Winnipeg and our family out there. As time went on I knew I had a special relationship with Dad something I will always treasure.

Our father’s passing was such a shock and a heartbreak. Mom had just passed away on June 4th and Dad was completely heart broken. Dad spent the last 4 years of his life totally dedicated to my mother visiting her almost every single day at the Gillis house. He was an amazing example of dedication. Mom and Dad were married 62 years. Art and Carmel are together laughing and dancing in heaven. I was very proud of my Dad, he was a wonderful man and I feel I could never say enough great things about him.

Dad told me just after mom had passed “don’t forget your mom”. I told him I would never forget her, but Dad I want you to know I will never forget you either. We will miss you both very much!