GARY SIMONSON

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GARY SIMONSON Just as he had boldly scripted, during the night of January 8, 2013. Dad peacefully slipped from the scene (to use one of his own terms) while sleeping in his own bed in what he always referred to as his house, his home and his sanctuary. Dad always had a special connection with certain spaces and the land, with the areas where he spent the majority of his life, up on the Ridge at the homestead with his family in Woodlands and on the bald headed prairie in Meadows representing his own versions of hallowed grounds. This sense of place translated into Dad being a proud Canadian and I always loved when engaged in a rousing debate about the wayward social and militaristic path of our neighbours in those Excited States of America how he would humorously proclaim that the only things he would import from south of the 49th parallel would be baseball, popular mechanics and country music - three of his defined passions. Dad certainly did take his duty as a citizen within our democracy extremely serious with politics always being top of mind. In terms of his social and political consciousness, Dad was a truly progressive thinker for a man of his generation. He was a vocal proponent for the environment, the working class and women's rights to name a few and I proudly found that with his perspectives he was easily able to connect so well with young adults. Conversely, sometimes his views put him at odds with his own demographic but I believe the world needs trailblazers like Dad. Dad also had a huge interest in science, technology and innovation and he was constantly in pursuit of new inventions. My personal favourites were his log splitter, and of course his pitching backstop that returned the ball to you at the pitching mound - the homemade batting cage was pretty cool too! In terms of his personality, I'd say fiercely independent, intensely complex and for us amazingly loveable. Dad was an awesome eclectic mix of athlete, political activist, poet, scientist, engineer, philosopher, artist, and country music singer all wrapped up into that farm boy from rural Manitoba. Thank you Dad for your unconditional love and support, your wisdom, considerate thought and for giving us such a wonderful lifetime of memories. We love you so much and you will be terribly missed. Dad was never too fond of the spotlight and didn't care much for formalities so there ain't gonna be no funeral. However, we strongly encourage you all to grab yourself a nice cold Labatt's Blue, turn on some good old Hank Williams music and share some nice stories about our Dad. Love Travis Simonson and Tannis Handford. MacKenzie Funeral Home Stonewall, Manitoba (204) 467-2525

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 12, 2013