Lorne (Benedict) Tokarchuk

LORNE BENEDICT TOKARCHUK

April 1, 1935 - September 18, 2016

It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of our father, Lorne Tokarchuk, in Calgary on September 18 at the age of 81 years.

Lorne was the youngest of eight children and was predeceased by his mother, Anne (Skoretz), and father, John Tokarchuk, and his siblings: Karolina, Jean (Ceslak), Marion, Josie (Skoronski) and Mike. He is survived by his sister Emily (Langevin) and brother Eddie, and by his five children, Robert, Susan, Linda, Richard and Laurie, and his three grandsons, Jesse, Dylan and Samuel. His is also survived by many nieces and nephews, ALL of which he claimed to be his “favourite”.

Lorne was born at home in Lintlaw, Saskatchewan and had many happy years growing up with his large extended family. He babysat many of his nieces and nephews in their younger years and had many chores on the family farm. (Not a big fan of farm work), Lorne joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1955 and served for 15 years as an airplane fuselage technician, initially stationed in Winnipeg, before being transferred to Trenton, Ontario. He travelled to many foreign destinations during his military career including: Europe, Africa, South America, Japan and Hawaii, and would bring home treasures and gifts for his children from these faraway places. He often shared stories about life in the military. One of his favourites, was when his drill sergeant asked for a volunteer with a driver’s license and after he enthusiastically volunteered, he was commanded to “drive” a broom around the hanger floor.

Lorne retired from the air force in 1970 and then, shortly after graduating from Loyalist College in Belleville, he embarked on his second career as an accountant. As a single parent, Lorne moved to Alberta in 1975, eventually settling in Fort McMurray before moving to Calgary in the mid 1980’s. Lorne last worked as a commissionaire before retiring in 2003 and moved back to Saskatchewan near his childhood roots, until 2008 when health concerns precipitated his return to Calgary to be closer to his children.

Lorne always had a tremendous love of sports especially baseball, football and hockey, and was a “die-hard” fan of both Gordie Howe & Wayne Gretzky! He lovingly cheered for the Saskatchewan Roughriders his whole life and hosted many EXUBERANT Grey Cup parties. Lorne passionately followed the Olympics and was ecstatic to attend one of the 1988 Calgary Olympic hockey games in person with his daughter Sue. Lorne too, had a love of cards, and was at his best and happiest when challenged to a game of crib, often gloating over his accumulated high stakes winnings … 25 cent a game! Dad also loved backgammon, dice, our family card game called “OK”, Archie Bunker, The Golden Girls, WWII movies and especially the Duke - John Wayne. His musical tastes were simple: Neil Diamond, Charlie Pride, Neil Diamond, Harry Balafonte, Neil Diamond, John Denver, Neil Diamond, and the odd song that captured his heart.

As per Lorne`s wish, his ashes will be laid to rest in his beloved hometown of Lintlaw, alongside his mother and father, and relatives that have passed away before him. A quiet graveside Blessing Ceremony will be held on Monday, September 26 at noon and all are welcome to come and say farewell to Lorne. Afterward, we invite you to a gathering to share memories and celebrate our Dad’s life at the Sportsman Restaurant in Kelvington at 2:00 pm.

Lorne was very proud of his time of service in the Royal Canadian Air Force and in lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to your local Poppy Fund to honour our veterans.

To EVERYONE, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts, for the love, warm thoughts, well wishes, prayers and notes of condolences over the past few days… it has truly meant the world to us, and helped us cope with our grief. Dad, we miss you already and we love you forever…… Bob, Sue, Linda and Richard.

Expressions of sympathy may be forwarded to the family via the website www.fostersgardenchapel.ca.