With heavy hearts, we announce that Richard passed away on January 30th, 2022, in Victoria General Hospital at the age of 82 years.

​

He is preceded in death by Darlene (d. 2016) his wife of 57 years and brother Gerald McLean (d. 1958). He is survived by his daughter Sherry Graham (Cliff); grandson Evan Graham (Amy); sister Sally Carr (Weldon); extended family and friends.

​

Richard was born outside of Togo, Saskatchewan on the family farm to Tom and Dot. Richard was born a preemie and was kept warm in an orange crate on the wood burning stove.

​

Richard worked hard from an early age and left home as a teenager to live and work on his uncles farm in Bowsman, Manitoba.

​

Richard met Darlene Walton while playing baseball at the local community club in Bowsman (which happened to be across the street from the Walton family farm). Richard was 15 and Darlene was 13 when they first met; they married four years later in 1958.

​

Shortly after they were married Darlene left Bowsman and moved in with Richard in Winnipeg. Their only child, Sherry, was born to the couple on January 29th, 1963.

​

Richard was a Semi Truck driver for over 50 years. He was both a Company Driver and Owner/Operator over the course of his career. He worked most of his career for George Smith Transport, AllTrans, and TransX. He retired from TransX in 2015 at the age of 75.

​

Richard was a Driver Trainer for many years and many of his trainees are still on the road today. Richard had been known to drop off underperforming trainees at the nearest bus stop or train station, giving them $50 for a ticket home, and then continued with his route.

​

His main route, which he drove for many years went from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Laredo, Texas; a distance of 2,755 kilometers. He traveled this route countless times over the years and Darlene traveled with him from time to time. They traveled across the United States together throughout the years with many stops to Graceland, the home of Darlene’s favourite singer Elvis Presley.

​

Richard and Darlene went out of their way to help others in need. Their generosity was wide reaching, with friends throughout North America reaching out to Sherry in the days since his death with their own stories of Richards generosity. Stories of Richard buying plane tickets to get people home for the holidays, food and rent for new arrivals to Canada, or even things as simple as an extra generous tip to a waitress.

​

Richard and Sherry never had a traditional father daughter relationship with Richard’s job taking him far from home. But Sherry always knew she was well loved. One of Sherry’s childhood memories is of tobogganing; with Richard pulling Sherry up the hill in her toboggan only to run down the hill behind her and pulling her up the hill again, and again. Another memory is of a trip to the zoo where a camel walked up to Richard and grabbed his straw hat, only to walk off with it.

 

Richard always spoiled her when he could; buying her that special dress for the school dance and maybe even the perfect shoes to go along with it. But all spoiling would be directed towards his Grandson Evan from the moment Evan entered the world. Some of Evan’s earliest memories include unexpected trips to Joey’s Only with Grandpa; most visits with Richard were unexpected but that almost made them more special.

​

Richard’s later years were spent in Winnipeg nearby his daughter. He enjoyed going for 5 am breakfasts at Tim Horton’s or Salisbury House and got to know the staff well over several years.

​

Richard’s family would like to thank Home Care for looking after him in his final years and the staff at Health Science Centre and Victoria General Hospital for their care in his final days.

A celebration of his life will be held in warmer weather with his close family and friends.