Obituary of Donald Hugh Mackintosh

MACKINTOSH ~ Donald Hugh Mackintosh passed away at Lloydminster Hospital, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Friday, May 29, 2015 at the age of 87 years. Donald leaves to mourn his passing: his loving wife: Carol; daughter, Brenda; six grandchildren: Jesse, James, Grady, Dennis, Joey and Kelly; five great-grandchildren: Derian, Roscoe, Jack, Kyra and Declan; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Donald was predeceased by, his son, Brian, four brothers, George, John, Billy and Alistair and four sisters, Barbara, Irene, Elsie and Joan. Donations in memory of Don may be made to the Alzheimer's Society or to a charity of the donors choice. McCaw Funeral Service, of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. Don Mackintosh Eulogy – wrote and read by Teddy Tobler Don was born in Gull Lake SK on March 16, 1928, the third son of George and Violet Mackintosh of Garden Head Sk. In total Don had 8 siblings equaling 4 brothers and 4 sisters. He attend the appropriately named Stone Pile School until Grade 8, at which time, he was deemed ready to join the work force and make a living for himself, and become a man. And what a man he would become. As a young man in Saskatchewan, looking for work, he found and answered an ad for a “hired man” in Lanigan, SK – which is where he met and captured the heart of Carol Lindberg. They quickly swept each other off their feet and were married in December of 1949. They often said that they were just two lost kids who found each other – and they never let go. They were married for a loving 65 years. The following year in November of 1950 in Nokomis SK Don became a father to a bouncing baby boy named Brian. New opportunities arose within the next couple of years, in 1952 Don got a job as a civilian pipe fitter working on a military base. Don, never one to shy away from a challenge or new adventure moved with Carol and young Brian to Rivers MB. In September of 1953 Don and Carol welcomed their sweet little girl, Brenda, into the world. Don and his young family had spent the next few years in Rivers and in 1955 they built a new house in Spring Valley. On Saturday's Don would take the family into Brandon. While Carol was getting her hair done, Don and Brenda would spend some quality time together and go around to hardware stores. Don, being quite the jack of all trades would accumulate a rather impressive amount of tools during his lifetime, he would put them all to good use. After spending years in Rivers growing as a family Don received a call from an old friend about working for the recently opened Potash Corp. There was a good job with Don's name on it and a brand new house in Lanigan for the family to live in. Don worked hard there for the rest of his career and when he retired he was the Maintenance Foreman. In that time Don became a well-known member of the community making many friends. In his leisure time he would enjoy bowling and shuffleboard, he was quite good at both. Square dancing was also on the list of Don's talents as him and Carol would regularly go around to neighboring towns and show off their moves. Don would also donate his time and energy to charitable events. Including the time he pushed Carol in a wheelbarrow from Lanigan to Guernsey, which is about six miles, for a Lions Club fundraiser. The family would grow up and the kids had found loving spouses of their own - Brian would marry Dixie, and Brenda would wed Gerry. Naturally, with time, Don became a grandfather and eventually a great grandfather. After his retirement, he and Carol bought a cabin at Stony Lake, which was close to Humboldt. They would split their time between Stony Lake and Yuma, Arizona. Every summer grandkids would come to the cabin and keep Don and Carol entertained. To go with the cabin he bought a boat which he named Kelly O' Grady, after his two granddaughters. He would spend countless hours taking the kids boating, water skiing, and fishing. In the winters they would head south to Yuma. They celebrated their 50th wedding Anniversary in Yuma - even the kids Brian and Dixie, Brenda and Gerry along with their kids came for the fun. Family was always very important to Don and Carol, they even traveled to their respective countries of ancestry to learn some family history. They took a trip to Scotland to learn more about the Mackintosh family and a trip to Sweden to see where Carol's family had come from. Together, they had toured many of the southern United States, Hawaii and even Alaska. No matter where they went they had always known where home was. In 2000 Brenda and her Dad road tripped down to Arizona to pack Don and Carol up for a new adventure, a new opportunity. They decided to join Brenda and Gerry on building a new acreage just north of Kitscoty. Don being the handy man he was a welcome addition to the new property. During the course of the past few summers you could find Don out on the garden tractor, or taking the dogs, Spud and Tater for walks through the gulley. He found it peaceful at the acreage. It was a nice quiet spot for Don to sip some tea, have a cookie or two, maybe with some ice cream, and he was always willing to share with a guest. You could always hear Don say "Come again, anytime". He was always staying busy, whether it was in the garden picking weeds, assembling a massive gazebo, or keeping the lawn nicely cut. The winters were a little quieter and Don would casually sip tea and watch while Carol made her famous cookies. Christmas would always be one of Don's favorite holidays at the acreage, a wild parade of grandkids and great grandkids would bellow in the halls for a few days and there would be endless sweets for Don to nibble on. Gatherings of card and dice games, laughter coming from everyone, and an overall sense of love would fill the room. As the dementia started to take a stronger hold of Don over the last while he maintained his positivity and upbeat spirit. Despite the struggle he dealt with on a daily basis his true colors remained vibrant as he kept on fighting the good fight. No matter how much he was struggling he always made his best efforts to make everyone around him feel as comfortable and welcome as possible. Don was a pure example of how the little things could really make anything special. His charming spirit, contagious laugh, and quick wit humor will always be something to cherish. Although he may no longer be here with us in person, pieces of Don can be seen throughout all of us. We must not grieve for the things we've lost but celebrate a life of a man who gave so much to all of us. Whether it be handed down features like a warm smile, a funny joke which he shared with you, we know Don Mackintosh will be here for more than a lifetime. Thank you Don for all you've given to us and taught us. Thank you Don for all the love you've shared. We can only hope to live up to the standard that you had set for what it takes to be a real man, a genuine human being. When it comes to keeping Don in our heads and in our hearts all I can say is Come again, anytime.