TUPPER, Calvin Foster
March 3, 1926 - June 13, 2016
It is with great sadness that we are announcing the passing of our father, Calvin Tupper at the Drumheller Hospital suddenly on June 13, 2016 at the age of 90. Dad was born in Scots Bay, Nova Scotia to Robie and Rena Tupper. He was the 5th child out of 7 children and is predeceased by his beloved wife Jane of 56 years in 2004, by his father and mother; Robie and Rena, brothers Harley, Orly and Frank as well as his sister Ruth and nephew Bertram. Dad is survived by his brothers Alton and Donny as well as his sisters Ruby and Marylou and many nieces and nephews. Dad will be lovingly remembered by his children: Kathy and Glenn of Drumheller, Robie (Deanna) of Kimberly, BC., Kevin of Lethbridge and Colleen of Edmonton. Grandchildren: Brent, Lisa and Carrie (Ken) Kalvin, Kyle and Haylie Blake, Amber, Megan, Collette and Micha. Great grandchildren: Patrick, Lewis, Madison, Liam, Donte and Janessa. Dad was born and raised in Scots Bay, Nova Scotia where he did his schooling. He reported that he was a happy and content child with loving parents and a decent upbringing. He had a zest for life and took an interest in learning survival skills from his parents. Dad often talked about gardening with his mom and dad and learning how to plant a garden and storing food in both the root cellar and leaving parsnips in the garden over the winter. He canned galore with his parents and had many memories that would bring a tear to his eyes such as pickles in large crocks or their milk cow and stories of a calf in the spring to keep meat in the freezer and food in their bellies. At 14 dad went to work in an apple orchard and then in a saw mill. He also sought out odd jobs on the side to earn a buck right up until he was in his late teens. Then one day realizing that Nova Scotia could not keep his pockets filled with money and did not offer what he was looking for in life, he set off on a different road to a different province with his brother, Frank. Dad and Frank hopped into the back of a Packard truck, realizing that there was more to Canada than just Nova Scotia. Their journey took them to Acme, Alberta finding farm work until they had enough money to continue on to the Crowsnest pass. Upon their arrival, Dad landed himself a job in Hillcrest Mine. During that time Dad was fortunate enough to meet the love of his life and courted Jane Forsyth in 1947 and later married on July 2, 1948. Dad and Mom settled in Bellevue. Dad made such great wages and with the help of Mom the two of them were able to completely furnish the home that they would reside upon marriage. In April of 1949 their first born child, Kathy arrived. Dad was such a hard worker and dedicated his time to the mines picking coal and filling mining cars. When the mine shut down he was bussed to a mine in Colemen and continued on with his employment. When the Coleman mines shut down dad went off to a bush camp driving a logging truck. Due to Grandfather Forsyth being a fire boss in the Drumheller area and missing his daughter and grandchild he offered dad employment in Midland working yet in another mine. When the mine slowed down in Midland a move was then made to East Coulee to continue on with work in the open mines. Dad was employed with Atlas Coal Mine and Western Monarch Coal Mine. In March of 1954 Calvin and Jane’s second child, Robie was born followed by Kevin in July of 1956. In January 1960 and June of 1961 Glenn and Colleen were welcomed into the world with open arms. When the mines eventually shut down, dad was forced into a new line of work and readily welcomed the change. Dad was fortunate enough to land a job with East Coulee Transport for Henry Peltier. From there he moved onto Drumheller Transport with Frank West and was hired without hesitation. After working for a number of years with Frank, the business was sold to dad and a fellow partner. The operation of this business ended in 1968 when the building burnt down. The business was then ran out of dad’s house and yard and then eventually sold to John Kohut, and is now known as Hi-way 9. In 1968 dad chose a new line of work and jumped on board with his brother, Frank and worked with Tupper’s Contracting until the business was sold years later. From there he moved on to Stallie Construction as a foreman where he remained for many years. Because Dad’s passion laid in the mining business he moved on to Echo Bay Gold Mines running a loader. Dad was forced into early retirement when he was 56 years old due to being diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis which took the wind of his sails until he was lucky enough for it to go into remission or at least he claimed so. Dad could not stand idle time and was nowhere near retirement in his own eyes. He went back to work doing numerous jobs and eventually was employed by a family friend working on heavy duty engines in the oilfield right up until he was 78 years old. Then in 2004 he leaned back, put his feet up and enjoyed life listening to western music and western movies as well as hanging out with close friends, family and of course sipping on cold ones. His biggest joy in life was his grandchildren and great grandchildren and in 2012 he was blessed with a new found love, Janessa. Dad, his son Glenn and Janessa became inseparable and he looked forward to her visits, foot rubs, divia moments, humor and sass. She literally became his joy and love again for life. Looking back to the 70s and 80s, parties at Pine Lake or even in his back yard, dad’s whole life revolved around family and get together. His specialties were horseshoes, thirty one and crib along with canning, smoking and cooking. His cooking skills were exceptional, especially his mother’s recipes and her rum in her pumpkin pies. Dad enjoyed fishing, hunting and loved wild meat, especially Cariboo and deer. He also enjoyed helping his daughter Kathy and son-in-law, Wayne out on the farm driving swathing and driving truck. He could frame in and build anything just as well as any journeyman. In 1984 his wife Jane went into the Greenhouse business and dad was kept busy with this until 1993 when Jane closed the doors. He loved his children and grandchildren unconditionally and knew each and everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. Us kids always received an allowance on Saturday’s for a show and huge bag of candy for the matinee. Our bellies were always full, remembering the huge watermelons he would bring home in the summer, cherries in the spring and Japanese oranges in November and December, 2 wooden boxes tied together with rope and always a huge box of chocolates at Christmas and presents galore. There were three orders every year from Simpson Sears and Eatons. Us kids nearly burst at the seams with excitement for each box. Every month after bills were paid mom and dad were lucky to have two bucks left over bi- weekly. In those days you could by 10 glasses of beer for a dollar. During this time dad drove truck 5 ½ days per week and then serviced trucks on Saturday afternoons. Then it was his night to howl. Sundays were dedicated to working on the house that was moved to Drumheller from East Coulee. Our parent’s persevered, worked steady and raised 5 children. At 89 Dad still washed his own clothes, had a clean oven and house, made his bed every morning, dusted, vacuumed and did his own dishes as he was too proud to accept help until his illness. A special thank you to our brother Glenn for all his help and dedication in looking after dad and his constant changing needs. Dad could not have survived that long without you Bro. You truly made the last years of his life worth living. Also a special thank you to Dr. Kuschke and Barb for their years of dedicated service towards our father as well as homecare nurse, Tamara for all her help, support and guidance and the homecare staff that came to the home each week to assist with care. Due to our father’s wishes there will not be a funeral service. We will be having a celebration of life at a later date and will be announced via Drumheller Mail. Dad’s final resting place will be in Scot’s Bay, Nova Scotia. We would also like to give a shout out to Sean with Courtney-Winters Funeral Home for taking care of all the arrangements and making this very difficult time so much easier. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
