Obituary for Donald Dennis McKerracher
With immense sadness the family of Don McKerracher wish to announce his passing.
Don was born on January 23, 1939 to Jean and Howard in Love, Saskatchewan.
Don is survived by his loving wife Carol, daughter Cyndee (Myles) and their children Kyle (Lana) and great grandson Sutter, Tyler (Dakota), and his son Michael (Laurie) and their children Hayley, Scott and Rachael. His brothers Larry, Lyle (Marilyn) sister Sylvia and families, brother-in-law David (Joyce) and sister-in-law Lesley and family.
Don worked as a young man for the RM of Torch River near his home and in logging camps in BC. Don was a career employee of 38 years for Saskatchewan Power Corporation. He was an extremely dedicated employee that worked through his career from climbing poles to specializing in live line work to managing the whole northern part of Saskatchewan. Once retired Don continued to work contracting within the power industry. He has built a significant portion of the power line infrastructure in Saskatchewan. One of the highlights of his contracting career was going to Ecuador for a very specialized live-line contract.
Don had many passions including flying, travelling, fishing and hunting, but most importantly his family.
Don loved to fly. He obtained his pilots licence when he was younger for small planes, and loved to fly anywhere in anything from small planes, helicopters, to large commercial planes.
Don loved to travel. He and Carol have been on many fabulous trips including Mexico (for the past 20 years), Alaska (many times), north of the Artic Circle, Tuktoyaktuk, the Yukon, the Maritimes, and Don also took a very special safari to Africa.
Don was an outdoorsman and had a strong love for the North. He loved to spend time hunting, camping, fishing. He loved to fish. Don has fished all over the world from both coasts of Mexico, fly-in salmon fishing off the west coast of BC, fly-in fishing in Northern Saskatchewan and every little lake and stream in Saskatchewan. His favorite trips were with good friends and his son and grandson either flying into Northern Saskatchewan or fly-in (or helicopter in) to the west coast of BC to catch big salmon and halibut. He also loved to hunt. He started hunting as a very young boy and has continued hunting his whole life. Don was also an avid trap shooter with a large circle of fellow shooters throughout the province. He won many competitions around the province including a major competition in Osage.
Don was a masterful carver. The most beautiful loons and chickadees were created by Don as we teased him – the biggest hands for the tiniest work.
Don also loved to farm. He spent many years operating a combine for Hurd Farms Ltd. in Melfort but his true love was running the combine with his grandsons in Midale. Carol and Don would move the trailer down to Midale and Don would combine and stay there for months at a time. He loved the long days of running the combine, the many hours of visiting, and the delicious field suppers.
The roles most important to Don he wore with great pride. Husband, father, grand-father and great grand-father affectionally named “g-pa” by his grand kids. He was an extraordinary teacher, hard working, intelligent, patient, articulate, honest, and a champion for hard work. He was fiercely quietly proud of his family and especially his soulmate Carol. His loving wife Carol, was by far what he was most proud of.
We were lucky to be loved by him!
To watch the livestream of Don's service, please click here
Don was born on January 23, 1939 to Jean and Howard in Love, Saskatchewan.
Don is survived by his loving wife Carol, daughter Cyndee (Myles) and their children Kyle (Lana) and great grandson Sutter, Tyler (Dakota), and his son Michael (Laurie) and their children Hayley, Scott and Rachael. His brothers Larry, Lyle (Marilyn) sister Sylvia and families, brother-in-law David (Joyce) and sister-in-law Lesley and family.
Don worked as a young man for the RM of Torch River near his home and in logging camps in BC. Don was a career employee of 38 years for Saskatchewan Power Corporation. He was an extremely dedicated employee that worked through his career from climbing poles to specializing in live line work to managing the whole northern part of Saskatchewan. Once retired Don continued to work contracting within the power industry. He has built a significant portion of the power line infrastructure in Saskatchewan. One of the highlights of his contracting career was going to Ecuador for a very specialized live-line contract.
Don had many passions including flying, travelling, fishing and hunting, but most importantly his family.
Don loved to fly. He obtained his pilots licence when he was younger for small planes, and loved to fly anywhere in anything from small planes, helicopters, to large commercial planes.
Don loved to travel. He and Carol have been on many fabulous trips including Mexico (for the past 20 years), Alaska (many times), north of the Artic Circle, Tuktoyaktuk, the Yukon, the Maritimes, and Don also took a very special safari to Africa.
Don was an outdoorsman and had a strong love for the North. He loved to spend time hunting, camping, fishing. He loved to fish. Don has fished all over the world from both coasts of Mexico, fly-in salmon fishing off the west coast of BC, fly-in fishing in Northern Saskatchewan and every little lake and stream in Saskatchewan. His favorite trips were with good friends and his son and grandson either flying into Northern Saskatchewan or fly-in (or helicopter in) to the west coast of BC to catch big salmon and halibut. He also loved to hunt. He started hunting as a very young boy and has continued hunting his whole life. Don was also an avid trap shooter with a large circle of fellow shooters throughout the province. He won many competitions around the province including a major competition in Osage.
Don was a masterful carver. The most beautiful loons and chickadees were created by Don as we teased him – the biggest hands for the tiniest work.
Don also loved to farm. He spent many years operating a combine for Hurd Farms Ltd. in Melfort but his true love was running the combine with his grandsons in Midale. Carol and Don would move the trailer down to Midale and Don would combine and stay there for months at a time. He loved the long days of running the combine, the many hours of visiting, and the delicious field suppers.
The roles most important to Don he wore with great pride. Husband, father, grand-father and great grand-father affectionally named “g-pa” by his grand kids. He was an extraordinary teacher, hard working, intelligent, patient, articulate, honest, and a champion for hard work. He was fiercely quietly proud of his family and especially his soulmate Carol. His loving wife Carol, was by far what he was most proud of.
We were lucky to be loved by him!
To watch the livestream of Don's service, please click here