A spirit of Drumheller, who came to exemplify bravery, the love of a tall tale and the ability to always leave others with a smile on their face, was lost this week.
Pat Sparrow passed away on October 17. As a lifetime member of the Drumheller Legion, he was often a fixture at the establishment. Many others remember him for his years as a counsellor at Camp Gordon.
He often shared his wartime experiences. He, along with his sisters, Gerry Rowbottom and Madge Contenti, all signed up in World War II. Sparrow was only 16 at the time and lied about his age. While his family went air force, he went into the navy. He shared his story with The Mail in 2008, recalling he offered to clean a colonel’s office if he let him into the military. The colonel wrote an eight-page statement about how Sparrow’s birth certificate was lost in a fire.
Sparrow recalled, “The funny thing is, when I cleaned his office, I mixed up and lost a bunch of documents, but I was already long gone when he found out.”
He was part of the Landing Party on D-Day and recounted that his landing craft was stuck on a sandbar. He volunteered to dive in to get off the sandbar. He navigated the water full of mines and managed to get to shore.
In 2007, author Scott Haskins came looking for stories for a project called “Laughing in the Face of Danger, World War True: Real People, Real Heroes, Real Funny.” This was a collection of stories from real soldiers about their experience. Sparrow was a natural choice, and great fodder for tales, short and tall. When the book was published, he landed on the cover.
Not only in books was Sparrow immortalized, but also on television.
Wayne Rostad, host of CBC’s On the Road Again television show landed in the valley and explored Sparrow’s home, complete with the notorious Terrisparridactals and Moosisparrotorasauris on the front lawn.
Sparrow was good friends with former MLA Gordon Taylor, and as a counsellor, had the camp name “Chief Spit-in-the-eye Shot-on-four-sides.” It wasn’t uncommon to see him dressed up in full native gear.
Of course, it wasn’t uncommon to see him dressed up in all kinds of costumes, including his English Bobby outfit. Many of his signature looks were immortalized in an annual calendar he would get printed each year and distribute to friends.
The one uniform most may remember seeing him in his Legion kit. He was granted a lifetime membership and has over 70 years of service.
A funeral service will be held for Sparrow this Saturday, October 22 at 11 a.m. at St. Anthony’s Church.
