Farewell to a fine friend

Two days ago we said a final good-bye to a dear friend, Calvin.

Calvin Curley was a man with a strong moral compass. A brave and gentle man. His life was lived with honour and great enthusiasm. He descended from a line tough-minded, unbendingly upright Orkney ancestors. Calvin carried on these traits with pride. He showed a great strength in dealing with all of life's circumstances. He faced many challenges in his time-always with grace and humour.

Although he did not feel that farming was his vocation, he worked the land out of respect for his much-loved parents. Family was a primary concern in his life. He was father to a flock of children, those born to him and his wife Anita, and children of the heart who came to the farm in time of need. He loved them all in his deep and quiet way.

Children grown, he and Anita moved to Swift Current Saskatchewan. At 65 he became a real estate agent, putting all the energy he had previously used farming into this enterprise. It was a venture at which he was very successful. Although he sold many homes, Calvin counted his real success in his bonds with an ever-widening circle of friends.

Generally a spontaneous soul, Calvin grounded himself through the rituals and mysticism of the Roman Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. These together fed his glory in tradition and the spiritual aspect of his life.

Calvin contracted West Nile virus a number of years ago. Through Anita's fierce loyalty , determination and support, he moved slowly back from near death. He moved from coma to convalescence, from bed-ridden to wheel chair to walker, from being unable to care for himself to being able to look after most aspects of personal care. It was an enormous mountain to climb yet he and Anita scaled it hand-in-hand throughout the years. As Calvin's recovery progressed he and Anita moved to Camrose AB to be closer to family.

Despite the limitations caused by the virus, Calvin loved to travel and spend time out of doors. He was a welcome guest at our home in Saskatoon. He would sit on the deck off the kitchen and watch the birds and wildlife with great relish. He would survey the trees, flowers, sunrise to sunset commenting "Its paradise. Its paradise."

In the early days of his recovery, Calvin was in a wheel chair. One afternoon he was angling for a better view of our firepit area. His chair started to roll slowly forward. It gained momentum and was soon flying down a grassy hill. As he gathered speed the expression on his face was one of both terror and joy. As he rolled to a stop at the bottom, he laughed and said in his understated way. "Now that was quite a ride. Thought I was doing pretty good keeping 'er upright." Then he said "Don't tell Anita or she'll put an anchor on this thing."

No matter what the situation, Calvin always found a way to have good time. When he first 'graduated' to a walker he would trundle across the gravel and onto the lawn with Anita keeping him erect by holding the back of his belt. Despite the pain and indignity of the process Calvin would spend the 'hike' commenting on the play of the dogs, the beauty of the grounds and the wonder of butterflies.

Calvin had a way of drawing people into his sphere. One Saturday when he was visiting our little condo in Langley BC, we went to the open air market in Fort Langley. Anita and I were exploring the booths. At one point, we realized Calvin had disappeared. We eventually found him leaning on his walker and chatting with a new-found friend. The conversation was typical Calvin -the weather, hot issues in world affairs, the ridiculousness of free trade, and the state of farming in the west. Anita and I continued to explore for a good 45 minutes before he was ready to conclude the animated discussion with his conversation partner ( a fellow who was also a former farmer).

On another occassion, we went to a BC mountain lake in Sasquatch Park. Now independant of Anita's helping hand on his belt, Calvin slowly worked his way a considerable distance across grass, sand and gravel to a picnic table that overlooked the lake. Having a good perspective on the families playing in the water, he settled down with great contentment. There he sat enjoying the pleasure of being in the sun and consuming a pound or two of fresh cherries. During that visit he said his goal was to eat his weight in cherries and fresh blueberries. Whenever we passed a fruit stand he would ask if we thought we might need a few more pounds. Anita would laughingly scold and he would continue to eat his way through bags of cherries.

When I phoned Camrose, Calvin would always start of the conversation talking about the weather (the farm never truly left him). Next he would tell me about the latest 'doings' of one of his well-loved children or grandchildren. Often he also found a funny story to tell. Sometimes these tales would be about himself -droll tales about making 'macaroni ' crafts at the seniors' centre, silly word pictures of times when his walker got stuck in bizzare locations and jimmying about til he found a way out.

Calvin's great entertainment was watching game shows. Perhaps this was a reflection of his experience in life - the process is always the same but the outcome is always a gamble.

The last 6 years of Calvin's life were tearful, joyful, fearful and courageous.
Whatever the situation, his days held moments of laugher. With Anita as he loving and devoted companion, he lived with profound dignity. As a team he and Anita are a model we can all be proud to emulate.

Calvin now rests in the cemetary at Masefield in south western Saskatchewan. Close to the land, close to his roots and close to the parents he loved.

We salute you dear friend.