SPARROW: The Honorable Herbert O. Sparrow C.M., D.SC. Senator Herbert Orville Sparrow was born January 4th, 1930, the 7th son of Abiah Andrew and Olive (Gramson) Sparrow. Survived by his loving wife Lois and his children, grand children and great-grandchildren: Ken & Royane (Rachel, Myron, Kayla & Noah Gunther, Ryan Janzen and Danielle Stein, Linnea & Roy Rodgers); Joanne (Ian, Andrea & Kyle Scheler); Bryan & Brenda (Aubrie, Steven & Ezra Acorn; Carson & Andrea; Keegan & Jessica); Lauren (Laurie) & Hector (Landon, Arrianna & Vanessa) Ramirez-Sparrow; Rob & Evelyn (Jared & Meg); Ron & Lynne (Michaela & Peter, Asha, Bailey); brother Allan (Nancy) and nieces and nephews. Herb was predeceased by his Mother and Father and Step-Father John Crawford, 5 brothers: Baby, Ronald, Robert, Douglas and Merle Sparrow; Nephews Blaine, Donald and Dennis Sparrow, Sister's-in-Law Helen Sparrow and Phyllis Sparrow, and Step-Grandson Sean Janzen. Herb, The Star Phoenix once called him a "Renaissance Man." For close to half his life he was "The Senator." The University of McGill honoured him with "Dr. Sparrow." To his family he was "Dad", "Grandpa" and "Uncle Herb." To most people he was just "Herbie." But Just Who Was Herb Sparrow? As Peter Tarnowsky quipped at Herb's roast, "Herb made such an impact as a Senator that you can go anywhere in Canada - East coast, West coast, North or Â鶹ÊÓƵ and ask anyone about Herb Sparrow, and they'll all say the same thing: "Who the hell is Herb Sparrow!" Bank teller, Car Salesman, Restaurateur, Entrepreneur, Farmer, Rancher, Garbage Man, Excavation and Trucking, Land Developer, General Store Owner, Politician, Gold Miner, Old-School Stand-Up Comedian in the vein of his friend and hero Red Skelton. Kinsmen, Mason, Shriner, Honorary Rotarian, and always The Entertainer. He's been called "the champion of the little guy", and the "lone wolf senator." Obviously, Herb was a "workaholic." Many workaholics have trouble delegating. Not Herb. It may have been all his political experience, or as a city alderman, or with the Kinsmen Club; but wherever he learned it, Herb was a master at getting people to do things to help him with his projects. Personally, I think he got his training conning us kids to work for him. Every one of his kids, most of our childhood friends, and most of his grandchildren have been tricked with the classic - "who wants to go on a picnic?" He would then take his minions out to the ranch to pick rocks. Of course there was always a reward - KFC - at the end of the job. And many times he would drag us out to chase cattle that had escaped their fences, or move cows between pens. I remember selfishly asking him one Christmas day, as we chased cows most of the day through the north end of the city, if we could take Boxing Day off. Of course, it wasn't all work. There were ski trips to the mountains, and he loved our cabin the lake. But to Herb, hanging out on the beach was not very productive. So to justify it he started a lakefront development, and spent thousands of hours manually cutting reeds in the lake and cleaning and grooming the beach - usually in his bikini brief underwear that he thought passed as a bathing suit. And of course he press-ganged his kids and grandkids to help him with that project too. Now this might sound like Herb was tough on his children and grandchildren. Nothing could be further from the truth, but I'm sure sometimes we thought he was; mostly because he expected you to know how to act and how to react to situations, just because you were his family. He led by example, and you were expected to learn and follow. He wanted the best for his children and their children, never wanting them to do without, but wanting them to learn how to work to achieve their goals independently. He was proud of all his kids, and all of his grandchildren. And he was totally enthralled with his great grandson, Ezra. Herb was my hero. He accomplished so much, and he helped so many people. But he told me that his life had been blessed. He had been helped along the way by so many generous individuals, that he felt it his duty to "pay-it-forward" by helping others. He spoke of George Tucker, the retired farmer and Reeve of Meota for 30 years. After weeks of negotiating and questioning, pestering and test driving he finally bought a car from Herb, and then came back to buy cars for all his sons. George became his friend and mentor, pushing him to open a "drive-in" restaurant, and helping him financially. Roy Morrison , his boss in the car business, friend, mentor and partner in the KFC in Minot, North Dakota was another. Colonel Harland Saunders , Premier Ross Thatcher , his Kinsmen buddies, his political pals and many other people in the community not only influenced him, but gave him moral, intellectual, and financial help along the way. Some of them, or their children or grandchildren may be reading this and for Herb, Lois and our family, we thank you. From those amazing people, and from his own burning desire and sense of purpose, he grew into the Herb that we knew and loved. He was tenacious, passionate and totally committed to everything he did. Herb was Dean of the Senate - the longest serving Senator when he retired after serving 37 years. He was appointed by Lester B. Pearson in 1968 at 38 years of age, at the time, the youngest Senator. He sat in the Senate through 8 Prime Ministers and watched 315 Senators come and go. When asked why Prime Minister Pearson appointed him to the Senate, he said "You have to be wealthy, good looking, well educated, and bilingual - but they couldn't find anybody like that so they appointed me." In 1969 he worked on the Special Senate Committee on Poverty. As research he went undercover, as a homeless man with $1.50 and some food stamps and lived a full week on "skid row" in Vancouver, living with the street people. He served as Deputy Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, member of Senate Committees for Foreign Affairs, Mass Media and Transportation and Communications. As Chairman of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forest Committee, he released the 1984 report on soil conservation, "Soil at Risk: Canada's Eroding Future." It became the most published report of any government committee report, ever, distributing over 50,000 copies across Canada and around the world. For the next 10 years Herb travelled across Canada attending close to 1000 meetings spreading the message about the dangers of soil erosion. At a retirement ceremony for Herb in the Senate, Senator Lorna Milne said that after a few weeks in the Senate, she went home and told her husband Ross, an accomplished Agricultural Engineer and political veteran, about this senator who seemed friendly enough, but clearly walked to the beat of his own drum. She said, "Let me share with you what Ross said about Senator Herb Sparrow:" "This man has done more to improve the ecology of the entire world than any single person in history. His report of the Senate Agricultural Committee called Soil At Risk, changed completely the way that farming is done in the deep, dry soils of the Canadian Prairies, the American Midwest, the Pampas of Argentina and the Steppes of Russia and Ukraine. Herb has made a difference, a difference that has transformed agriculture forever." In 1990 Herb teamed up with Dr. David Suzuki to do a segment on "The Nature of Things" on the issue of soil conservation. He was the first President of Soil Conservation Canada and he continued his work to protect the land and the environment throughout the rest of his life. At his retirement, when speaking to the Senate, Herb stated that, "My family was young when I first came to the Senate. While here, away from home, the children would fight about who got to sleep with their mother. This fighting had to stop, so I asked them to not request that they sleep with their mother while I was away. Upon my return, they came to the airport to meet me. I had just gotten off the plane and was in the arrivals area when one of my little guys hollered, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, no one slept with Mommy while you were away!" Here are a few excerpts of his response to the Senate at his 35th anniversary: "Honourable senators, thank you very much. I do appreciate your kind remarks. Yes, I have been here for 35 years, and I can say that, in all that time, I don't regret one day that I was here. That day was September 25, 1970. That is the day I do not regret being here. I will use this opportunity to give you a bit of my background, something I have not had the opportunity to do in the 35 years I have been here. The headline of the news report at the time of my birth read: "Mrs. Sparrow gives birth to a child." It went on to indicate that I was born in a manger and that my sex life began at an early age because the report read: "Mrs. Sparrow is in stable condition and Baby Sparrow is holding his own. When I was in Grade 5, I remember coming home from school and saying to my mother, "Mother, was I adopted?" She said, "Well, now that you are 18, I might as well tell you the truth. You were adopted, but they brought you back." Another thing I remember is coming home and asking, "Father, will you take me to the zoo?" He said, "Son, if the zoo wants you, they will come and get you." I wish my father was alive today so that he could know I got to the zoo here all by myself." Throughout his life Herb Sparrow received many honours and awards for his service. He was awarded the Order of Canada, the United Nations Environmental Leadership Medal and an Honorary Doctor of Science from McGill University, The Soil Conservation Society of America Honour Award and the H.R. Macmillan Laureate Award in Agriculture. He received Honorary Life Memberships in the Kinsmen Club, Rotary International and the Agricultural Institute of Canada and Honorary memberships in the Canadian Legion and Canadian Society of Soil Science. He was Honorary President of the Canadian Amateur Baseball Association and Honorary Chairman of Telemiracle 15. He received an Exceptional Service Award, Salvation Army Canada and the Battlefords and district Citizen of the Decade Award, 1989. Earlier he received the Junior Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Young Man of the Year Award and the Vanier Young Man of the Year Award. He was Inducted into the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame, The North Battleford Wall of Fame, the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Conservation Hall of Fame. Herb was a true entrepreneur. In 1955, while he was a car salesman with Morrison's Chrysler, he opened "the Ranch House", the first Drive-in restaurant in the Battlefords. In 1958 the Ranch House became the 3rd Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchise in Canada, and the 11th in North America. Eventually he also owned several KFC's in North Dakota and another in Meadow Lake. He began farming and raising cattle in the mid 1960's. He expanded into the Excavation and Gravel Hauling business, waste disposal, a General Store in Meota and land development. He even tried his hand at gold mining with his friends, the late Shorty Ranger and Bill Bonter. Herb's avocation was as a speaker - he was a stand-up comedian of the old school. His passion was to protect the land for future generations. But his compassion drove him to tirelessly work to help the less fortunate in our society, particularly the children. He was co-founder of the first school for mentally handicapped children in the Battlefords, convincing Colonel Harland Sanders to be a contributor to the school. When Brenda Sparrow told him that there were kids at the school so hungry that they were rummaging through garbage cans for food, Herb launched a food program. His staff at the Ranch House would prepare lunches and Linda Light would deliver them. Then he started a breakfast program, paying the noon supervisor to come in early to make breakfast for the children. From 1988 to 2004 they delivered 159,530 meals. This program expanded to provide food through the Boys' and Girls' club during the summer months, feeding 30 to 50 kids every day, and eventually through the Salvation Army, providing food to children and adults through the food bank which he was instrumental in establishing. He worked tirelessly to organize workers for the Salvation Army Kettles. This year he provided a donation and negotiated matching funds from the City of North Battleford to help keep open the homeless shelter at the Battlefords Indian and Metis Friendship Centre. And over the years he helped countless people in our community when they needed it most. Herb suffered a great many health issues over the last number of years, and he had become very aware of his mortality. But that never shook his resolve, ambition to help others, or his sense of humour. He often joked that he had (funeral director) Bob McKay on speed dial. When Brenda asked him once what he'd like said at his funeral he replied, "Oh look he's moving!" 2 years ago, on September 4th, Bryan was getting his boat ready to pull from the lake. Mom and Dad were at the cabin, so he asked them if they wanted to go for one last boat ride. When they got back to land, Herb said - "Thank god - I thought that was going to be my LAST ride." On August 28th, one of his worse fears came true. He suffered a stroke that rendered him speechless, and unable to swallow. When Bryan found him at home, and he couldn't talk, Bryan told him he'd phoned for an ambulance, but Herb got up, put on a clean shirt, and refused to ride in the ambulance. Bryan drove him to the hospital and he insisted on walking into emergency, he would not allow them to put him in a wheelchair. Rob met them there, and when the doctor asked, "when was he last normal?" Rob said, "Thirty-five years ago." And Herb managed a smile. We all thought he would recover from this stroke, but his body was just too worn out from years of fighting heart disease. And at the Royal University Hospital, nine days later, on September 6th, 2012 at 8:30 in the evening we lost our husband, dad and grandpa; our uncle and our friend. And the country lost a true patriot and a genuine hero. Herb's Funeral Service was held on Friday, September 14 in North Battleford. Our family would like to thank the Battlefords Funeral Service, the Battlefords Detachment of the R.C.M.P. and the many friends, relatives and dignitaries who honoured Herb with their attendance and condolences. Condolences can be forwarded to [email protected] _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
