It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Albert Ludger Levesque on May 11, 2016. Albert was predeceased by his parents, Ludger and Alice Levesque; sister, Lillian (Frede) Brems; brother: Leo (Katherine) Levesque; sister, Irene (Bill) Anderson; father- and mother-in-law, Earl and Leonie Peters and brother-in-law, Elmer Cutts. Albert was born in Forget, Saskatchewan on June 20, 1930 to Ludger and Alice and grew up with two sisters and one brother. He attended grade school at LaSalette School and high school at St. Joseph鈥檚 Academy. He then farmed with his father for three years before taking employment in Regina at Mel Hill Beverages where he worked for one year. In the spring of 1953 he started working in the oil field. He worked for a number of companies throughout Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. It was during this time that he met and married his wife of nearly sixty years, Rosaline Peters of Storthoaks. Al and Rose were married on October 20, 1956 in Storthoaks and their very first home was a small 8 by 27 foot trailer in Alida. During the first four years of marriage they moved frequently throughout Saskatchewan and Alberta due to being employed in the oil field. In 1959 Al was injured and became unable to continue working in the oil field. In the spring of 1960, they moved to Toronto with their two small daughters, Trina and Karla, so he could attend the Radio College of Canada for nine months. After he completed advanced electronics they moved to Estevan where he was employed for one year with Mehlers Radio and TV. It was during this time that Wendy was born. In April of 1961, Al and Rose moved once again; this time to Stoughton, where he opened his own TV sales and service shop. One month later Darcy was born and two years later Barry came along, completing the family. Al ran his TV shop for 10 years. In 1965 he took over his father鈥檚 farm and, in 1968 he commenced his career in civil politics. Al served as town councilor from 1968 to 1976and, in 1988 he was elected as the Mayor for the town of Stoughton. Al retired in October 2000. In 1979 he was a director of the newly formed Red Coat Trail and in 1980 he was chosen as chairman for the next four years. During this time many trips were made with other delegates to Regina, Winnipeg and Edmonton to promote the Red Coat Trail to Ministers of Highways in each province. In the spring of 1982 Al had the honour of taking part in the official unveiling of the Red Coat Trail sign at the Weyburn Inn with the Minister of Highways, Mr. James Garner. In June of 1982 the Red Coat Trail signs were erected from the Manitoba border to Fort McLeod, Alberta. Both Al and Rose were extremely proud to take part in the erecting and dedications of the signs at three historic sites in Provost, Lethbridge and Fort McLeod, Alberta. In 1978 he became Director of the Fillmore Hospital Board and in 1982 was elected as the Chairman of the Board. In the fall of 1983 he became the Director of the New Hope Pioneer Lodge Board. After many years of negotiating our hopes and dreams became a reality with the announcement by the government in the spring of 1984 that a new nursing home was to be built in Stoughton. Al was actively involved in community events such as Stoughton Days, going to various sporting events and umpiring ball games at the local grounds. He was quite animated in his task as an umpire as anyone who had ever seen him perform these duties will tell you. He called strikes and outs with the flare and showmanship of a major league umpire. Another aspect of his life that always stood out to us was his outright love of ice cream, there was always a healthy stock of 4 litre pails of co-op ice cream on hand. So there was always a surplus of empty ice cream pails in the Levesque household. We used to love going to the farm with him, mainly because Grandma had a big garden out there and it was always fun to pick straight from the garden and have a little snack. He also had pigs back in those days, we didn鈥檛 care for them! We remember hating the smell and always running out of the barn or making an excuse to stay outside. One of Wendy鈥檚 childhood memories is sitting in the pig barn for hours on end watching the pigs farrow while Al watched hockey games on the little TV and when they were walking back to the house he asked here where her coat was. She had a hung it over the railing and when they went back it was in a million pieces in the pen. The kid鈥檚 fondest memory of Al was running into the house when we pulled in the driveway to get him to sing the 鈥渄e di de di do鈥� song. He would pile as many of us as he could onto both knees and sing the song. Then he鈥檇 say 鈥渙ne more?!鈥� And we鈥檇 holler one more! This could go on for hours! One of his great loves in life was sports, specifically baseball and hockey. Like thousands he was a true blue fan and believer in the Toronto Maple Leafs. Every year he followed and cheered for them like a true fan no matter how bad they were (although the words 鈥渢hey鈥檙e bums鈥� came out of his mouth from time to time). He was truly a remarkable man. He was a pillar to his family, community and everyone that ever had the pleasure of calling his a friend, colleague or family member. The family of Albert Levesque wish to express their sincere appreciation for the many acts of kindness. Thank you for your visits, cards. Flowers, food, phone calls and the donations made in Al鈥檚 memory. We would also like to thank all the people that worked at house 7 at Tatagwa View, also the activity directors who gave Al such good care while he was there, it was so greatly appreciated by the family. We would also like to thank the nurses at the Weyburn General Hospital, also Dr. Paszkiewicz. Thank you to Father Gerry Bauche for the prayer service and funeral mass, the organist, the choir, and to the C.W.L. ladies at Mckenna Hall for the wonderful lunch provided. Thank you to thank you to Fletcher Funeral Chapel for their compassion and support during this difficult time ~ Rosaline Levesque and Trina, Karla, Wendy, Darcy, Barry and families. Albert will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 59 years, Rose Levesque of Weyburn; daughter, Trina (Ian) McDowell of Regina, and their children, Kerry and Danielle; daughter, Karla (Marvin) Lang of Edmonton, AB and their children, Shane, Jaysy and Jenny; daughter, Wendy (Don) Dayman of Corning, and their children, Tracey, Craig, Natasha, Courtney and Breanne; son, Darcy Levesque of Regina, Sk and his children, Alicia and Luke; son, Barry Levesque of Stoughton, SK; 15 great grandchildren as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Prayers were said on Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. and a Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Monday, May 16, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. Both were held from St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church, Weyburn, Saskatchewan with Father Gerry Bauche presiding. Interment took place at Forget Cemetery, Forget, Saskatchewan. Donations in memory of Albert may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or Alzheimer Society. Condolences may be left at: www.fletcherfuneralchapel.com. Arrangements entrusted to Fletcher Funeral Chapel, Weyburn, 306-842-5432.
