LLOYD ARTHUR CHURCH

It is with tremendous sadness that I share the passing of my father Lloyd Arthur Church on March 3, 2025.  After a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer God heard his prayers, wrapped his arms around him to take him home.

During his final hours, he was surrounded by those that meant the most to him.  His two granddaughters whom he adored ( Alexia and Ariana ), Jim and myself.

Dad was a dedicated son, brother and uncle.  He was born on August 22, 1938 in Lake Lenore, Saskatchewan.  He was the youngest of five children, had the blondest hair, bluest eyes, and a constant look of mischief.  He shared countless stories with me over his lifetime of growing up on the farm.  He described these times, filled with hard work, but also with so much fun, laughter, and love.  Over his lifetime he returned to the farm year after year, visiting with his family and playing farmer.  The tradition continued when I came along, spending many weeks of our summer vacation at the farm in Prince Albert, and Christopher Lake, Saskatchewan.   Dad made sure I understood the importance of making time for family, highlighting that it was the quality of time spent with those you love, not the quantity of time.

Dad was loved and will be missed dearly by his sister Binnie, brother Jim ( Orla ), and brother Pat.  Also his nephews, Dean ( Stacey ), Kelly ( Stacy ), and Al ( Teresa ), who loved his easy going nature, as well as admired the man he was, hIs niece Bunnie, and all members of each respective family.  Dad was predeceased by his parents Jim and Julia Church, sister Winnifred, brother in law Reg Brooman, nephew Gordie, and my mother Shirley Anne.

Dad joined the military in 1957 as a Lance Corporal, and spent the next 6 years in Calgary, Alberta, Shilo, Manitoba, and Germany.  During this time, he completed his basic training, met my mother, got married, moved to Germany, and had his one and only child, me.  From 1965 to 1969, he was stationed in Winnipeg, Manitoba as a Corporal.  He then took his first overseas tour in Cypress for peacekeeping duty for the United Nations.  Dad continued to serve in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the Infantry Battalion with a promotion to Military Police Sergeant for another 4 years.  In 1973, dad took on one of his greatest challenges.  At the age of 35, in the prime of his life, and newly separated, he took on the responsibility of raising a 9 year old daughter, as a single parent, and at the same time, being transferred across the country to Bagotville, Quebec.  While in Quebec he was assigned to a special security division with the Military Police.   I did not realize at the time, the weight he had on his shoulders, not only with raising me by himself, but trying to maintain his career, and achieve his dreams.  At 9 years old all I knew was that my dad was smart, caring, fun, was my best friend, and I was loved.  I never once heard him complain or show me he was under pressure or stressed in any way.  We did everything together, shopping, movies, sightseeing and so much more.  To this day I am still in awe of what he took on, but so grateful for all he did.  I could not be more proud of the man he was, and the lessons I learned from him.  I made sure he knew when he got sick that it was now my turn to support him, help him, take care of him, and love him like he did for me all those years.  Four years later we were transferred to Edmonton, Alberta where he was now a Sergeant Major, while at the same time raising a teenage daughter.  My poor father.  I think back over those years, and boy did I keep him on his toes.  On many occasions, while hanging out with friends on the military base, the MP`s would drive around which was standard procedure, however I am sure to this day that he advised them to keep an eye on me while in the community.  My father never had to raise his voice or punish me.  He had such a way of letting me know he knew everything I did, without saying a word.  He would let me sit, and think of a million ways he was going to react or what he was going to do.  The worst part was that I would begin to feel so ashamed and guilty that I would punish myself with my own mind and thoughts of his reaction.  Whatever it was that he did, his hands on approach and unconditional love guided me through my teen years to the woman I am today.  I never wanted to hurt him and the question was always on the back of my mind .... " What would dad think ".  I knew that no matter what, he loved me, but I also knew that I did not want to disappoint him and wanted to make him proud.  While in Edmonton, Alberta my father then decided to become a paratrooper.  At the age of 40 he joined this vigorous and gruelling training that had him up every day at 4:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. every night.  This training went on for weeks and weeks, but despite being the oldest in his squad and putting up with the friendly taunts from his peers, he was successful in making over 120 jumps.  Once training was complete, a gift presented to him by his entire unit that read... " WITH GUTS AND DETERMINATION ".  We then moved back to Winnipeg, Manitoba and settled in with old friends.  Over the years we had become great friends with the Schultz, Davies, and Klassen families.  For years we spent holidays with them and every summer consisted of 2 weeks in Vermillion Bay, Ontario.  My dad always loved these times at the lake and we reminisced on many occasions, talking about fishing, swimming, blueberry picking, bonfires and the laughter and love that was so strong amongst us all.  By this time I was almost 18 years old and my dad was being posted again, first to Petawawa, Ontario, then finishing his career in Edmonton, Alberta, with one final trip back to Cypress.  I stayed in Winnipeg, Manitoba and these times were tough for us, as we had spent so many years together, but the relationship stayed strong and he was always there for me no matter what.  At the age of 55 and serving for 35 years, dad retired ( not willingly ) as Master Chief Warrant Officer.  My father was so damn proud of what he had achieved.  HIs home reflected his pride with pictures, certificates, medals, flags and memorabilia all on display.  Going through his belongings, I had the opportunity to read reports he saved over the years and am so proud to read the comments all speaking to his character, his drive, leadership ability and a job well done.  I knew all of these things about him and just wanted to make sure everyone else knew.

Many years ago I asked my dad about his reasoning behind joining the military.  The story goes like this.  One day back on the farm, while visiting the outhouse, he was looking through a newspaper and came across a picture of a Military Policeman riding a motorcycle.  It was not the MP that caught his eye, but the motorcycle.  Hoping one day to ride a motorcycle, he joined the army.  After 35 years in the army and 86 years on earth, he never once rode a motorcycle.  After his retirement, he returned to Winnipeg, Manitoba and had his first home built.  He kept busy with interior decorating, curling, jogging, gardening and reading books.  We had dinner together every Sunday and spoke daily on the phone.  A few years later dad became bored and struggled with retirement.  He decided to sell his home and bought 35 acres of land in Anola, Manitoba.  It was a lifelong dream of his to own such a property.  He loved the outdoors and I do believe that he still had the farm boy blood in him.  Dad spent the next 10 years turning this property into his dream home.  The property was immaculate.  He spent 10-12 hours a day planting trees and flowers, cutting wood, making trails ( summer and winter ), gardening, and building and maintaining a greenhouse.  He became part of the woodlot association and his property was showcased on many occasions.  At the same time dad continued to support Jim and I with home repairs and renovations and landscaping our yard.  He also drove into the city 2 days a week for 7 years to take care of Alexia and Ariana before they started school, while Jim and I were at work.  He purchased the girls a golf cart and painted it purple and red at their request.  He taught them how to use the golf cart, cross country ski and drive a snowmobile.  He also taught them how to plant a garden and grow flowers and trees as well.  He made them their own little wishing well and a bedroom for them with the coolest bunk beds.  He also made the best scrambled eggs for them.  He built them a treehouse and painted it the same color as their golf cart including a swing set, slide and sandbox.  He bought a pool table and taught them the game of pool and allowed them to take rolls and rolls of toilet paper and unroll them throughout his entire house.  Just as I thought he could not do any better as a grandpa he started a tradition of putting Christmas presents in sacks from Santa hanging from many trees on his property.  I will never forget their eyes as we pulled into his property and saw the hanging bags and also will never forget his eyes when he saw the joy on their faces.  Eventually the property became too much for him to maintain and sold the property in 2013, purchasing a condo back in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  It took dad some time to adjust to the new slower pace, but quickly adapted and created a new routine.  He filled his days with the things he enjoyed, walking 4-5 kilometers every day ( summer and winter ), riding his bike, reading 2-3 books a week and meeting for coffee with neighbors, old friends and retired MP`s.  His favorite thing was watching storms roll in or sunsets from his living room window.  He always made time for us as we did for him.  We continued to spend holidays, birthdays and celebrations together.  He loved coming over on a nice summer evening, sitting in our sunroom and laughing with the girls.  His ritual of cooking Christmas dinner continued until 2 years ago when he told me he just could not do it anymore.

Almost 3 years ago everything changed for all of us, but especially for him.  A diagnosis of cancer scared him and shattered him as he told me over and over that he did not want to die.  I tried to be strong for him, not showing my emotions of not wanting him to die either.  The next 3 years would be filled with countless doctor appointments, radiation treatments, bloodwork, CT scans, MRI`s, infections, countless pills and more and more pain.  That ongoing pain never went away, but only continued to get worse.  He was tired, weak, frustrated, sad, but still had time to worry about me.  He continued to fight, some days he seemed a little better, other days he seemed so much worse.  4 months ago everything started to feel different.  He knew and so did we.  On February 5th losing all feeling in his legs, dad was rushed to the hospital by ambulance.  After one week in the Health Science Center and more radiation treatment, he was moved to a transitional care unit at the Misericordia Hospital while waiting for a bed in palliative or hospice care.  The next few weeks all 4 of us remained by his side every day as the pain and suffering only worsened. We did everything possible to help him feel comfortable and loved.  We held his hand, massaged his arms and legs, helped him eat and drink, gave him heating pads to help control his pain, and a cold cloth for his hot flashes.  We brought someone in to cut his hair and Jim helped him shave every couple of days.  Jim stayed with him every evening to give him play by play analysis of hockey and curling on TV.  He would bring him a coffee ( " only a small Jim " ), feed him ice cream and fill his cup with grape juice and crushed ice.  When dad`s pain was too much Jim would help him change position to try and alleviate some of the pain.  The girls would visit, bringing him updates of their lives and leaving little notes for him in his room.  Towards the end it became harder for them as his light he always had for them was slowly growing dim.  On the very early morning of March 3rd Jim and I were both by his side.  I whispered in his ear that it was OK for him to go now and that we were all going to be fine.  I told him how much we all love him and that he fought a long and hard battle.  I told him that I knew God was coming for him soon, just as he had prayed for.  I kissed his forehead and held his face and told him this was not goodbye.  A tear dropped down from the corner of his eye and I slowly wiped it away.  At 2:15 a.m. my dad took his last breath.

My family would like to thank every person who touched dad`s life in one way or another because of this horrible disease.  I hope and pray you all know that although you could not change the outcome, you did make a difference.  We would also like to thank family and friends, co-workers, neighbors, and former military personnel for their support, kind words, beautiful flowers and cards.  At my father`s request cremation has taken place and a celebration of life will be held late this summer with details to follow.

" If after you are grown you think back on your father, and childhood, and smile .... you were raised by a great man "

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ETHICAL DEATH CARE

Cremation & Life Celebrations

530 St. Mary Avenue - Winnipeg

204-421-5501 - www.ethicaldeathcare.com

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