Clarence  William Duckering May 20, 1918 – December 28, 2020

 

Our family is saddened to announce that our dad’s time here on earth has come to a close at the remarkable age of 102.

There to greet him in his heavenly home would be his first wife Gertrude of 21 years and his second wife Grace of 56 years, a son Terry Duckering, a daughter Theresa Erker, a son-in-law Gerry Torhjelm, his parents Herbert and Rosetta Duckering, and his six brothers and two sisters, along with many other family and friends who have gone before him.

 

Dad was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan and grew up on his parents’ farm near Streamstown, Alberta.

 

Dad married Gertrude George in 1938 and together they raised nine children on the family farm.  Dad was musically gifted and although he could not read music, he played piano for most of the local dances and was popular among the many people who attended as he could play any request by ear.  After the farm sold in 1957, he moved his family to Red Deer and he purchased and successfully operated Midget Delivery, delivering everything from mud to the oilfield, household groceries, to pianos and other various items throughout the community.  There was no move he would not tackle.  If there was work to be done, Dad would be doing it.  He was raised to work hard and work came before pleasure.  Unfortunately Gertrude passed away after a lengthy illness in 1959 and Dad was left to raise his family on his own.

He met and married Grace Bassant in 1963 and they had three children together.  During those years,  Duckering’s Delivery came to be,  and then

Duckerings Transport Ltd.   He worked hard and was proud of his

accomplishments and the fact that he could pass the legacy of his business to three of his sons when he retired in 1986.  They moved to Nanaimo, BC only to find they missed the family and moved back East to Calgary in 1988. From there, they moved to Olds where they lived comfortably from 1997 to 2018.

When health issues became a concern,  a retirement home in Lacombe became home.  Once again Dad was to be widowed as Grace passed away in August 2019.

Dad was moved to the Hamlets in Red Deer where he resided until his passing.

Left to cherish his memory are his 11 surviving children, Shirley (Ed) Hutzkal, Deanna (Cliff) Knight, Vic (Jean) Duckering, Carolyn Torhjelm, Linda (Wayne) Ludwig, Ken (Rita) Duckering, Gord (Pat) Duckering, Betty (Brian) Cave, Faith (Darryl) Johnson, Judy (Doug) Herbert, and Connie (Ben) Yaney,

40 grandchildren, 92 great grandchildren and 29 great- great grandchildren.

At 102, he may not have been able to list them all by name, but he was always certain of his love for each and every one of them.  He was always quick to say, in earnest, “God bless you” and “I love you, I love all my family”.

We will miss your strong presence in our expansive family Dad.  There have been a few times we thought we’d lose you, but you always bounced back, determined to retain your patriarchal position.

Obviously God thought that, at 102, you deserved your rest.

Rest in peace Dad.  We love you.

The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the staff at the Hamlets in Red Deer for their care, kindness and compassion shown to Dad over the last year and a half.

A private graveside service will be held on Thursday, January 7th at the Alto Rest Cemetery in Red Deer.  Plans for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.

 

 

• Date : 2020-12-28
• Location : Red Deer