DARHOLM ~ Sven Arnold Darholm of Mervin, Saskatchewan passed away at the Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at the age of 87 years. Sven was born in Kville, Bohuslän, Sweden on June 25, 1926 to Gerda and Karl Alfredson and was the youngest of seven children. Sven leaves to mourn his passing: his loving wife of 58 years, Kathleen; two daughters: Joy Anne (Greg) Ardagh and Karen (Daniel) McCaffrey; six grandchildren: Melissa, Melinda and Jonathon Ardagh and Cole, Nolan and Denzil McCaffrey; sister-in-law, Rosa Darholm and numerous nieces and nephews in Sweden. A Memorial Service was held at the Mervin Hope Hall on April 22, 2014. The Eulogy was presented by Melinda Ardagh & Karen McCaffrey: We are here to celebrate the life of my grandfather, Sven Darholm. When you really sit back and look at his life you realize how complete and awesome it really was. At a young age, sports took up most of his time. Some of the sports he participated in were orienteering, cross country skiing and shooting. After High School Grandpa was in the army for one year and then attended agriculture school. This is where he met his friend Rune Polsson and together they planned their adventure to Canada in 1954. Their ship left from Liverpool. Grandpa knew that this was going to be a one way trip because he was sea sick for more than ten days straight. His buddy Rune always bugged him that he got sea sick even before the ship left the harbor. After working in Victoria & southern Alberta he came up to the Mervin area. He ended up working for Alton Ericskson west of Mervin & made frequent trips to the Anderson farm to visit Kathleen who had caught his eye. They were married November 15, 1955 after a five month courtship. It was a blustery minus forty day. The winter of 1955 and 1956 was a nasty one with twelve foot snow banks. This was the beginning of a strong marriage that would last fifty-eight years. From the first day forward they were always there for each other. Grandpa & Grandma took over the farm where Grandma grew up. Together they worked side by side for thirty-five years. They initially had chickens, later milked purebred Holsteins and finally raised Full blood Simmental cattle. They imported two heifers from Switzerland which formed the base of their herd. Grandpa took the first A.I. course offered in Saskatchewan at the U of S in 1957 and often pointed out that their herd was 100% A.I'd. Every spring he would pour over the A.I. books, looking at the bulls performance data before he made the decision of which to use. He ran Mervin Artificial Breeders where he A.I'd cattle for both dairy & beef producers in the area. Over the years Grandpa was involved in such organizations as the Mervin Co-op & the Mervin Lutheran Church. He also took up curling and golfing shortly after he settled in the Mervin area and played a big part in building both the Mervin Curling Rink and Golf Course. So really, how would one describe our father, Sven Darholm? Honesty, integrity & God fearing would be at the top of the list. He lead by example and was respected by everyone that knew him. With Joy and I, he pushed us to be the best we could be whether it was school, sports or everyday life. When Dad disapproved of something we did, he would subtly let us know how disappointed he was. Yelling wouldn't have made us feel near as bad. He often said, if you don't have anything good to say about someone then don't bother saying it at all. One thing we can't forget about was his competitiveness. Dad wanted to be the best at what ever sport he played. Even playing cards, you played to win, there was no letting the little kids win just to make them feel good. Even though he hated to loose he showed us how to win with class and loose with class. If a curling shot cost him the game or a golf shot cost him a championship he would graciously acknowledge the winner but it would affect him for days. Days would go by and then out of the blue he would mention how he couldn't believe that he missed that shot. In curling you wouldn't find a better ice reader or strategist. Numerous bonspiels were taken in all over the area. It didn't matter if it was minus forty-five you had to make it to that curling game. When everyone was using those noisy cloth brooms, Dad started using the push broom. He always felt he was the one that changed the nation. Dad continued to curl into his early 80's. In golf it was his short game that he was second to none. He never had to be very good at putting because most times he didn't leave himself with a putt longer than six feet. We would travel for miles every Sunday to take in a golf tournament wherever it was. In more recent years Dad enjoyed his Breakfast Club group that played golf every weekday morning. Up until a couple of years ago he played over one-hundred rounds of golf each year. Dad also brought his love for cross country skiing with him from Sweden. He skied a thirty-one km mini Birkie event in Edmonton at the age of seventy. Mom & Dad enjoyed traveling. There were numerous golfing tours taken with five or six couples. Lots of fun was always had by all. There were also trips taken back to Sweden to visit family about every seven years. Other trips were to various countries all over the world, at last count I believe the total countries visited was around thirty. As you can see their activities & interests gave them the opportunity to meet many people. When relatives came from Sweden, Mom & Dad would take them to some attraction that would often take two or three hours to get there. It would never fail, the minute they got out of the car someone would come up & say "Hello Sven, how's it going?". Our relatives would comment, "Is there anybody that you don't know?" Dad retired from farming at age sixty-five. He was quite happy to spend more time curling & golfing. This was also around the time grand children came along. He enjoyed being a part of their lives, sharing in their accomplishments and always made a point of spending time with each one individually. Dad was happy with his life and was getting discouraged when his body wasn't letting him do the things he loved. He said he was like an old car that was falling apart. With his strong faith he was content to take his next journey. We would like to thank our families and friends for your visits, phone calls, cards, flowers and food. Your thoughtfulness through this difficult time is greatly appreciated. Kathleen, Joy Anne & Greg, Karen & Danny & families ____________________________________________________
