By Ray Parthenais:

Good morning everyone. 

I know this is a sad time for some but, it’s only for a short time.  Life is short, and God said that we’re only here for a very quick passing and then we’re gone to heaven.  If we know the Lord, we are going to be with Sid someday.  And that’s fantastic!  I am glad that that’s going to happen. 

We are here today to celebrate the life of Sid Fleming.  And now he is with the Lord, in a much better place.  And we have to talk about that.  It makes us feel better to know that.  Sid and his twin sister Ethel were born on May 7^th, 1928.  His early years were spent on a farm in Lashburn, Saskatchewan where he grew up with three sisters and four brothers.  That must have been a great time for him.  There are many stories, some that we may hear later on.  He attended a rural one-room schoolhouse and then went on to attend high school in Lashburn.  After finishing high school, he joined his brother Jack in Trail, BC where he worked for the CPR.  He was there a few years, but all through his life, even as a little boy, he had a real passion for airplanes. 

If airplanes were flying over the farm, he would sometimes run in the house and get people to come out, and show them the airplanes that were going by.  He was so excited about all these things and he would tell them all about them.  And that was his life.  He really liked that.  His passion for airplanes never left him through all his life.  Even as an older man, he still loved airplanes.  Also, when he was a young man, his brothers were in the military during World War 2 and when they could come home on leave, he would put on their uniforms and go marching around the farmyard pretending that he was in the military himself. 

Later on, he was in the air cadets and his brother was saying that Sid could identify aircraft flying by better than he could.   Even though Sid wasn’t in the RCAF at the time, he could identify the aircraft that they couldn’t.  So while he was in Trail working for the CPR, he went and took flying lessons and he got his private pilots’ license while he was at it.  And one time he even took his brother Jack up on a cross-country flight to Grand Forks.  I don’t know if I’d have gone with him, knowing Sid as well as I do.  He was a little erratic at times, and flying with him I think would have been quite an adventure!

In 1951 at the age of 23, Sid joined the RCAF.  And he was quite proud of that.  That was his life.  He really enjoyed being in the RCAF.  And when he joined up, being as he had a flying license, he kind of figured that maybe he could become a pilot in the Air Force.  But he was disappointed because his eyesight wasn’t good enough, so they refused him.  So he became a radar technician instead and that was his life in the Air Force.  He served on many bases in Canada and in Europe.  Sid spent time in France for several years.  He was stationed here in Comox twice.  While all this was going on, he met his lovely wife Joyce.

In 1953, Sid married Joyce, and she was his loving companion for nearly 45 years.  This union produced three beautiful daughters, Sharon, Adda and Nicole.  They had five grandchildren, Laurence, Lucas, Hannah, Danny and Steven.  And Sid retired from the Canadian Armed Forces after 21 years of service.  After getting out and probably in between, he spent many, many hours at the Courtenay Air Park.  Looking and aircraft and indulging his love of aircraft and flying.  That was really a big part of his life.  He spent a lot of time doing that.  And he even apparently drove to Campbell River and sat at the end of the runway watching airplanes take off.  He was a nut about airplanes, that what he was!

But after many years in the Air Force, after he retired, knowing Sid, as most of you know, he was always on the go, he couldn’t sit still, he was always on the go, had to do something.  So him and Joyce, his wife started a small business and they became janitors, so they took care of different buildings in Courtenay.  They did that for quite a few years.  After awhile it got to be too much for them because, they were getting on in age, like all of us do after awhile.  And they retired from that also.  They even passed some of their work on to my wife and I so we took over some of their work after they retired from that.

Sid was also a proud member of the Reform Party.  He made sure you knew it.  That was another one of his passions where he would really support them.  He also had regular meeting at Zeller’s with their coffee club.  He went there and would love to talk about his Reform Party and other things that were happening.  He was quite a fellow for, f you knew him well, he had many interests, he was a very loving father and friend. 

I’ve known Sid for about 10 years and I think I met him here in church the first time.  And we had a restaurant in Courtenay at the time.  They use to come into the restaurant quite often and it was a real joy to see him there because he always had jokes to tell and he was always active about things.  He was never shy about saying what he thought.  That was one of his things.  If he thought something, he said it, and that was the way it was! 

I think Joyce had a real handful with Sid.  He was a ball of fire and he was a small man in stature, but big in character.  He wasn’t a very big man, but he sure knew how to do things and say things, and talk to people.  He had a lot of character that way.  If he thought he was being pushed around, you could be sure he would push back.  Being he was small, that didn’t mean anything.  Once you crossed this guy, you knew it.  He would let you know about it.  But that kind of a thing, like Joyce was the opposite way of Sid, she was a very kind, gentle person and still is.  I’m sorry to say it that way, but she still is that kind of a person, just the opposite of Sid and that’s I think what made them such a wonderful couple.  It made their marriage, it made them that way.

I feel very privileged today to have known Sid and to have been asked to do this for him today.  I thank God he had both of us in this beautiful valley, together, for this short time.  But we will be together again in heaven, some day, Praise God.

I was talking to Sid’s twin sister Ethel yesterday and this morning, and she told me a couple of stories about what happened when they were little.  One of them was that, they had a root cellar under the house, and she use to convince him to crawl through the window, and sneak in there and take some apples.  Sid would get caught, and by the time Mom would catch Sid, Ethel was gone.  So he was the culprit.    

They had a neighbor not too far away that had a dog and some chickens and at that time, the kids didn’t have a dog.  So Sid and his sister use to sneak over there and play with the dog.  And while they were over there of course, they would let the chickens out of the chicken coop and chase them all over the place.  And then they would go home and bring the dog with them.  The people would come over to their Mom and Dad and say “The kids were over at our place today and they let all the chickens out of the coop” and well this was Sid and Ethel.  I guess they were quite a pair while they were growing up.  So they would get into trouble for letting the chickens out.

At this time if there is anyone else who would like to come up and say something about Sid, please do so.

A Eulogy for Dad

By: Adda Vallevand

Thank you for coming.  Please bear with me. 

Dad was the kind of person who would do anything for anybody and he was the best Dad ever.  He went above and beyond the call of duty when he helped me this past winter, when I was pregnant and Leif was away working.  He loaded firewood in.  He cut our huge lawn.  He loved Leif’s ride ‘em lawnmower.  He even did windows.  Whenever we needed anything, Mom and Dad, they would always come running.  Like when my battery died in the baby thermometer. 

Dad was always ahead of his time, as he was always our designated driver.  When we were in our terrible teens, pretty terrible hey Mom?  He always said, “Okay you kids, you call me.  I’ll come and pick you up.  Don’t get in the car with anyone whose been drinking.  And you know, even if it was two o’clock in the morning, he did it.  And he did it happily.  We never got lectured about it.  That was another great thing about him.  He was non-judgmental and, a very forgiving man.  He never held a grudge, and he taught us resilience.  “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

Being from a family of eight kids Dad loved to have a full house.  He loved when the grandkids were at the house, when relatives or friends were visiting.  He was always cheerful and loved a good joke, even though we teased him about his shortcomings in telling them.  But you know, that actually made it more funny sometimes. 

I think that these last few years, after he retired, were a little too quiet for his liking.  But he was thrilled to see Nicole and I get married two summers ago, and to give us to good husbands like Leif and Bruce.  He was so excited to see me have the baby I had always longed for.  And it was a blessing that she came a month early.  Because she got to meet her Grandpa. 

Just a week ago, Dad and Mom were in Vancouver, where they were so glad to be visiting Nicole and Bruce and the boys in their first home.  He was so excited to be spending time with Jack and Mac in Vancouver, and here in town when they came to meet our new addition to the family.  It was these simple things that made Dad happiest.  Like going for walks, going to the air park, playing with our dogs, driving our cat crazy, holding our babies and just giving a big hug.

Just to be around good people like you, family and friends, meant the world to Dad.  So I know, he’s up there, flying.  Smiling down at us, proud to have touched us all, and giving us a big thumbs up.  To encourage us to go on, and live our lives to the fullest like he did, enjoying the simple pleasures of just being…with family and friends.

So, in closing I would like to read a verse, from my sister Sharon who couldn’t be here, and her family, and say, “Farewell Dad.  Until we meet again.”

Some people come into our lives and go quickly 
Some stay for awhile, and leave footprint on our hearts
 And we are never, ever the same again. 

A Eulogy for My Other Dad

By: Sharon Scott

I’ve known Sid for over twenty-three years.  He was my other Dad.  And he called me his fourth daughter.  And as a teenager, I thought that he was way too strict with us and, he worried way too much about us.  Now that I’ve grown up somewhat and I have children of my own I understand.  He cared.  He did whatever he could do to protect his daughters.  That is one part of him that I have always admired.   

Our relationship grew, and changed.  I started to grow, and realized how much I loved this man.  No matter how much time passed, he always welcomed me into his home, with open arms and a big hug.  I always felt his love for me.  When I moved back to the Valley, I was putting my own life back together and Sid said many to me if I ever needed him he was there.  And he showed me that over and over. 

 I am truly grateful for knowing Sid and being a part of his life.  There has been a lot of laughter, some tears and some pain, but he has taught me a lot about life, and about living life.

 He was a compassionate, gentle, funny and loving man.  I will miss him, but I know one day I will see him again.

Safely Home
This poem was chosen by Nicole
 and read by Wanda, a friend of the family at the service.

I am now at home in heaven;
All's so happy, all's so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief are over,
Every restless tossing past;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in heaven at last.

Did you wonder I so calmly 
Trod the Valley of he Shade?
Oh! but Jesus' love illumined
Every dark and fearful glade.

And He came Himself to meet me
In that way so hard to tread;
And with Jesus' arm to lean on,
Could I have one doubt or dread?

Then you must not grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still;
Try to look beyond earth's shadows,
Pray to trust our Father's will.

There is work still waiting for you,
So you must not idle stand;
Do your work while life remaineth - 
You shall rest in Jesus' land.

When that work is all completed,
He will gently call you home;
Oh, the rapture of the meeting!
Oh, the joy to see you come!

Music: In the Garden
by Bruce DeBoers

Floating Butterfly Script
Courtesy of: