Obituary of Dorothy Keichinger

KEICHINGER ~ Dorothy "Dot" Nellie Keichinger passed away at the Lloydminster Hospital on Sunday, June 23, 2013 at the age of 78 years. Dot leaves to mourn her passing: five children: Dan Keichinger of Streamstown, Alberta, Linda (Brett) Hartwell of Mazatlan, Mexico, Marilyn Ward of Victoria, British Columbia, Laura (Kevin) Allen of Cremona, Alberta and Dwayne (Jennifer) Keichinger of Lloydminster; eleven grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; two sisters: Minnie (George) Goodfellow of Neilburg, Saskatchewan and Kay Klotz of Lloydminster; brother, Doug Garden of Edmonton, Alberta; two brothers-in-law: Albert and Bill Keichinger and their families, as well as numerous other relatives. Dot was predeceased by her parents, Jim and Kitty Garden; her husband, Ed Keichinger; son, Dale Keichinger; infant son, Michael Keichinger and granddaughter, Angie Keichinger. The Funeral Service for Dot was conducted from the Wild Rose Pavilion, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Friday, June 28, 2013 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Bob Aldrich officiating. Dwayne Keichinger and Daryl Ward gave the eulogy. The honorary pallbearers were her granddaughters: Lisa Robertson, Krista O'Keefe, Rina Keichinger, Emma Allen; as well as all of her great grandchildren. The active pallbearers were her grandsons: Jason Keichinger, Ian Keichinger, Daryl Ward, Michael O'Keefe, Erik Keichinger, Garrett Keichinger and Donovan Allen. Interment was held in the Lloydminster City Cemetery. Donations in memory of Dot may be made to Kitscoty and Lloydminster Home Care, Cross Cancer Institute or Lloydminster Palliative Care. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. EULOGY Good afternoon. My name is Dwayne Keichinger, the youngest son of Dot & Ed Keichinger, and beside me is Mom's grandson, Marilyn's son, Daryl Ward. We are honored today to share with you today some of the memories we have of Mom. Dot Keichinger was born on June 29, 1934. She was the oldest of 5 children born to Jim and Kitty Garden. Mom grew up on a farm in the Marshall area. When Mom & Auntie Minnie were teenagers, they would both stay home during the harvest to drive a team of horses and help out any way they could. One day she was asked to go out and round up a cow for treatment by the vet. When Glenn Weir arrived, Mom hadn't completed her chore. Glenn remembered Mom instantly ran out to get this cow, through the pasture and brush, barefoot. Yes, barefoot! Right then and there people realized how tough Mom really was. Grandma went to school at Dulwich for the early years and finished her schooling at the high school in Lloydminster, while living with her grandparents. To earn her keep, she cleaned houses and worked at the Lloydminster Hospital. She furthered her education by getting her teaching degree in Saskatoon. After graduating, she taught in Buchanan, Saskatchewan for a couple of years. In March of 1956 Grandma met Ed Keichinger and they were married on December 27 later that year. The story told to the family and history books was one of Grandpa rescuing her out of a snow bank. Grandpa & Grandma were married for nearly 50 years before Grandpa's life was cut short with cancer in 2005. They had 5 children, Dan, Linda, Marilyn, Dale, who passed away at a young age, and Michael who passed away shortly after birth. Grandma did not feel her family was complete, so Grandpa and Grandma opened their hearts and their home and adopted Laura and Dwayne. Mom and Dad also had extended family. They always opened their home to relatives, friends and neighbors. Some stayed and worked on the farm, others came for a visit. It didn't matter if it was a weekday or weekend, there were visitors at the farm all the time. There got to be so many visitors that they filled up several guest books. In the back of the guest book were birthdates and anniversaries, but Mom seldom needed to use this. Her memory was amazing. She remembered better than any of us and was a resource for family history as well as community history. She knew who was married to who and how this person was related to that person. It was mind boggling to try to keep up with her. During the writing of this eulogy, there were several times we could not remember a detail and said out loud that we needed her help. Her love of family history led her to many hours of research and lobbying for restoration of the long forgotten, over grown, Poplar Lake cemetery near Edmonton where her great grandmother Minnie Fielders ancestors are buried. Grandma & Grandpa were involved in the community too. She was part of the Streamstown Ladies' Club and attended many functions in Streamstown, Kitscoty, Marwayne, Alcurve and Lloydminster. They enjoyed visiting with friends at these parties and they loved to dance. Grandma loved to dance with Grandpa. Grandpa's favorite dance was the polka and how Grandma kept up with him, we'll never know. Mom loved to be outside in her garden and flower beds. She had flowers everywhere in the yard. On most days, you could find her picking weeds by hand, bent in half. She was a very hard worker. She took pride in her yard, always getting after Dad for parking the machinery on the lawn. She supported the farm, making sure the workers were well fed and looked after, she did all the books and record keeping for the cattle, and she loved all animals, from the cows to the pigs to the dogs. There were very few days that a dog was not at Mom's side. Of course, they were 'outside' dogs and weren't allowed in the house. However, the last few cocker spaniels were allowed on the door mat, maybe in the porch during a storm,. The last cocker, Goldie, softened Mom to the point of having the run of the kitchen. I'm sure it had nothing to do with Dad laying on the couch coaxing the dog out of the porch with food. Grandma spent many years on different committees and boards. She was on the Dulwich school reunion committee, was an active member of the Marwayne Royal Purple. She was on the Lloydminster Exhibition board for a while and spend many years on the Board of Directors for the Blonde d' Aquitaine cattle at a time when it was not the norm for a woman to sit on a board. Grandma promoted the cattle wherever she went and helped in so many ways organizing the shows and doing a lot of behind the scenes work. 4-H was also a big part of her life. She was the Kitscoty Peewee leader for several years and was active in the main club. Just as recent as a few years ago, she was asked to judge the 4-H members' record books. In addition to visiting in the community, Mom and Dad liked to vacation with family and friends. Mom and Dad took in family reunions in Canada and the US, they travelled with friends throughout Canada, US, Asia, Australia and Europe. The farm was never far from their minds when they travelled. In Australia, they spent a month travelling around and enjoyed many visits to the farms of Blonde cattle breeders. In 1984 Mom & Dad took Laura and I to Florida. A couple of teenagers amped up for Disneyworld and where did we end up...on a Brahma cattle farm. Eventually we got to see the other sights, but seeing the local agriculture was always a priority for our parents. Her trip to Scotland was special to her as it brought her love of family history to life. She got to visit where her family came from, see what they endured and meet the people that she'd only read about. And, of course, she took the time to look up a few Blonde cattle breeders. Another favorite place for Mom to travel was Las Vegas. There were several trips, and for over 20 years, annual trips to Vegas with Dad and some of the friends and neighbors. Mom enjoyed sitting at Binions Gambling Hall, plugging the nickel slot machines, bragging that she always made more money than Dad. They enjoyed the Vegas shows, sightseeing, and most importantly the company that they went with. Even after Dad passed away, Mom still took a few trips to Vegas with Linda, Marilyn and Laura. There are pictures in the slide show and you may be able to talk one of them into showing you them, but I was clearly threatened by my 'slightly' older sisters that, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Grandma was a regular at the Lloydminster Bowling League. Laura & Dwayne remember going to town every Tuesday with her and staying in the daycare at the bowling alley while Mom bowled. This was followed by fries & gravy at the Co-op cafeteria with relatives and friends, and again, Grandma knew almost everyone down there. In the last 5 years or so, Grandma spent many lunches at KC Steakhouse. The staff at the restaurant got to know her as a regular, and she would frequent the place for lunch as many as 5 times a week. And usually, she ordered the same meal. It was a meal that was not on the menu, so the staff had to put a special button on the computer for it. Eventually, the meal made its way on the menu and it is there today. A copy of the menu is at the guestbook today, and on the Senior's Section, on the bottom, is "Dot's Lunch". Tomorrow would have been Mom's 79th birthday. 79 years is not enough time to spend with an amazing woman like her. We can only hope that her legacy of integrity, pride, strength, hard work and the love she had for her family and all she knew will live on in those whose lives she touched. Thank you. CARD OF THANKS The families of Dot Keichinger wish to express our sincere thanks to Dr. Paul Naude for his excellent care of Mom, Brenda Servold, the Palliative Care, Kitscoty and Lloydminster Home Care staff for their knowledgeable and compassionate care of Mom and the family. We would also like to thank the nurses, care aids and other doctors who treated Mom with such kindness. Thank you to Dwayne and Daryl for the heartfelt eulogy and all the grandchildren for being pallbearers. Thank you Linda, Dwayne and Ian for preparing the slide show and music. Thank you to Rev. Bob Aldrich for the thoughtful service and Ben Schurman for playing the bagpipes. Thank you to Glenn and the McCaw staff for their caring and professional assistance. A special thank you to the relatives and friends who visited Mom at home and at the hospital. Thank you to those who brought food, sent flowers, sent cards and made donations in Mom's memory. We are grateful for the support and we appreciate it more than you can know. Dan Keichinger & families Linda & Brett Hartwell & family Marilyn Ward & families Laura & Kevin Allen & family Dwayne & Jennifer Keichinger & family