Alex Kaminskas:
Alex was born on February 28th, 1933 on the edge of Long Lake, Rowan's Ravine, west of Strasbourg, SK. In 1935, when he was 2 years old, his parents John & Ethel Kaminskas brought him and his older sister Annie to the farm, just east of Spalding. Until the age of 13, he attended school at Lake Edward. A short while later, he began his work with the threshing crews. He first worked for Fred Woloshyn, and then went on to work for his dad's crew. There was always a lot of work to be done on the farm. Breaking the land, picking roots and stones and herding the cattle. One of his fondest memories was climbing a large tree to see where the cattle were to bring them home for milking. One of Alex`s most frightening experiences was being chased by a bull. Times were tough, but in later years there was always time to go dancing at the country school. Alex would dance all night by coal oil lamps, come home, change clothes and go right back to work on the farm. He often said he wore out many pairs of shoes dancing. He even played his violin at these dances. It was at the country school, Westasta Valley, where he met Iris, oldest daughter of William & Mary Drobot. They were married on August 11th, 1958 at the Spalding United Church. Alex and Iris were blessed with 3 sons, Ricky, Randy & Barry which they raised on Alex's childhood farm. They built a new house in 1965, and added steel bins and machine sheds to the yard. Alex and sons were caretakers of the Spalding Curling Rink for six years before the artificial ice was put in. There were a lot of bonspiels on weekends in Spalding and the surrounding towns which Alex loved to curl in. There were many games of shmear at the rinks and also at the neighbour's houses on birthdays and other social visits. Alex loved to fish - summer and winter - especially up north on the Hanson Lake Road and at Lake Edward. Alex and Iris enjoyed many travels, including trips to Toronto and Niagara Falls, and bus tours to the States with friends. Alex was on the Church Board, Co-op Board and the Curling Committee. He was always one to help out his neighbours when it came to things such as putting up machine sheds, cementing foundations, adding on to the curling rink and custom combining. Alex retired from farming 12 years ago, rented out the land and lived on the farm until 2011 when they bought a condo in Melfort and moved in on November 11th. They spent the summer of 2012 at the farm selling off the machinery and household items, doing yard work and enjoying the farm for the last time. The home quarter and acreage were sold on April 18th, 2012 to Kurt & Gloria Weber. Even though Alex`s farm life of 78 years was over, he very much enjoyed time in the condo as well as travelling across the miles to visit with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The weeks were filled with going to the mall for coffee, going to church and to Smitty`s for meals. There was always someone to visit with and friends to play cards with, a lot of curling, movies and game shows to be watched. Anyone who knew `Alferd`, knew that he was a jokester! Sparky`s stories will be missed but his favourite saying will live on. `Don`t get old`, `Pays to know ya`, `How you wuz`. Alex will be lovingly remembered and sadly missed by his wife of 54 years, Iris, and his 3 sons, 5 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren, brother and sisters: Rick Kaminskas of Prince Albert and fiancé, Lynn Simmons of Neudorf; Randy Kaminskas of Martensville and children, Alica (Trevor) Herbert and their children Samantha, Cameron & Emily, Aaron Kaminskas, Alexandra Kaminskas (Greg Nicholson) and her children Ayden & Ava-Rose; Barry & Joan Kaminskas of Sherwood Park, AB and children Zenan & Marina. His sister Annie Long of Naicam; brother Gordon Kaminskas of Kelowna, BC; and sister Nita(Albert) Hoffman of Spalding. Also, numerous in-laws and nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his parents John & Ethel Kaminskas, his in-laws, William & Mary Drobot and his granddaughter Andrea Kaminskas, his nephew David Drobot and brother-in-law Reigh Long.
