Obituary of Joseph Dion

Joseph Nazaire Dion passed away at the Lloydminster Hospital, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Saturday, December 13, 2014 at the age of 79 years. Joseph was born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan on December 29, 1934 to Amanda and David Dion. Joseph leaves to mourn his passing: his loving wife, Elsie; one son, Dean (Dianne) Dion; two daughters: Janet (Edwin) Bekolay and Lana (Trevor) Williams; twelve grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; one brother; three sisters; and numerous other relatives. Donations in memory of Joseph may be made to Lloydminster Palliative Care or to a charity of the donors choice. EULOGY Today we are here to celebrate the life of Joseph Nazaire Dion. Joe was born on December 29, 1934 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan to David and Amanda Dion. Joe had one brother and seven sisters. He would tell stories of when he was young, playing hooky from school so he could catch gophers and play around the farm. Joe's parents were farmers and that's where he learned to love farming. Once he got older, he moved away from home to Victoria, British Columbia to work but he loved farming so he eventually moved back to Saskatchewan to help his parents on their farm. In 1957 he met Elsie Nolin, fell in love and they married on January 13, 1959. They welcomed three children, Dean on May 11, 1960, Janet on April 28, 1961 and Lana on March 23, 1964. When Joe registered the births of Janet and Lana, he mixed up their middle names. This was a story that was always shared with a laugh. Joe was a farmer through and through and an excellent provider, teacher and father to his family. When he had a problem most times, he would have a nap and when he woke up he knew the solution. He would be so excited he would get up and have a new invention to solve the problem. Joe always had a twinkle in his eyes when he would explain how he solves a particular problem. Not much stopped him or stumped him, he always found a way. While Joe was farming, he had many different animals, horses, cows, pigs, sheet, goats and chickens. When Joe had horses, he loved his horses and was always very proud of them. He always had his faithful dogs that would follow him anywhere and help him herd his cattle. There was always at least one dog on the farm at any given time. Joe also loved his cars and trucks. He had a new truck every other year. And he loved teaching his children to drive. He once took Lana with him to test drive his new truck. Lana was driving the truck too gentle for his so he told her, "Drive it like you own it baby!" Joe and Elsie have twelve grandchildren: Garritt, Michael, Andy, Junelle, Kyle, Brandon, Evan, Kelly, Levi Jake, Samantha and Mikki and two great grandchildren. They loved to have their grandchildren visit the farm, His grandchildren have very fond memories of times on the farm, mostly playing on his hay bales! There were times when he would try to get his grandchildren to stop wrecking his bales, but they were having so much fun he would just let them keep playing. He also taught his grand boys how to drive, usually on a tractor. One time he had his grandson driving the tractor and all of a sudden the tractor was heading straight for a slough. He probably never ran so fast in his life trying to catch up to that tractor, but of course he did. And the next time he made sure that everyone knew to push in the clutch and hit the brake to stop! Joe had been fighting heart disease since he was 35 years old. He never saw a man fight so hard and at the age of 79 he lost his battle. Dad, Grandpa we are here today to celebrate you, the life that you lived and the legacy that you have left in your family. We have all learned valuable lessons from you that we will carry through our lives. We all love you and mourn your loss and you will be dearly missed.