Obituary of Ronald John Israelson

Ron was born in Provost, Alberta on February 11, 1940. He was the second of five children born to John and Vivian Israelson. The family lived and farmed at the north end of Hansman Lake until the mid 1940's. In 1945 the house was moved to land John purchased from his father Victor in the Silver Lake District, eleven miles north of Cadogan. Ron attended the Symington School for grades 1 through 9 and then went to Provost for high school, graduating in 1957. In 1967, Ron married his wife of 45 years, Kathleen Forster. Ron and Kathleen had three children - Darryl, Karen and Bryan. They were on the farm for 39 years then moved to Provost in the fall of 2006. Ron's farm truck could be seen heading west every day. Ron never retired, but was gradually forced to give up his farming activities beginning in June 2010 when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. His battle ended peacefully at the Provost Health Centre on March 24, 2013 at the age of 73 years. Ron was a community minded individual, who served as a board member for the local hospital and later the Regional Board. Ron had a bit of a heavy foot, which led to him meeting a number of RCMP officers on his many trips to Camrose for health care meetings. Ron not only supported his own children with their 4-H beef projects, but had an influence in many 4-H'ers in the community over the years. Ron and Kathleen got the winter travel bug when he was around the age of 40 when they went to Hawaii. They were fortunate to travel to many countries, with Hawaii being their favorite. Ron had many travel stories to tell his friends and family and enjoyed showing the grandkids all the places on his globe. Ron was a sports fanatic, both as a participant and a spectator. He enjoyed playing fastball and baseball and coached numerous baseball teams over the years, including the Cadogan Nitehawks. Ron always tried to make sure not to miss the Toronto Blue Jays play. If he wasn't able to watch, he made sure that Kathleen set the PVR. Ron enjoyed curling for over 50 years and managed to do it all with the same pair of curling boots. When Ron turned 50 he was recruited to curl in the Senior's League. It wasn't as much about the curling as it was about the card games and coffee afterwards that had him in the rink twice a week. Ron frequented many hockey arenas, not only for his own kid's hockey games, but more recently, his grandson, Tanner's. Ron was an avid bird hunter, who made a lot of lifelong friends who shared his passion. Perry Smith from Florida was one of these who had been coming every season for 35 years, and began bringing his own son, Perry Jr. to hunt with Ron & Darryl. He loved nothing more than the challenge of fooling the birds in the late season. Later on, he was happy to share his "hot spot" for gophers with Tanner and looked forward to their weekends of littering the ground with spent shells. Family was always a priority, and Ron always tried to make a presence in his children's lives. He was a great farming mentor to Darryl and a supportive listener to Karen's piano and trombone playing. Ron always valued Karen's opinion and she could always get him to do what she asked. He was supportive in her choices away from the farm and was happy she was only 3 hours away. Once his grandchildren came along, he passed on his knowledge by teaching Tanner to play checkers and chess, which may have backfired once Tanner started to beat him. Ron recognized Daelyn's love for animals, especially the cows, and so he was very happy to share with her the ins and outs of calving season. He would be proud that she has far exceeded her mother's cow checking skills. Ron will be forever remembered and dearly missed by his loving wife, Kathleen; daughter, Karen; son, Darryl (Angela); grandchildren, Tanner and Daelyn; sisters, Carol (John) Moon, Sharon (Stan) Lagore and family, Audrey (Allan) Norris and brother-in-law Ross Forster; as well as many extended relatives and friends. Ron was predeceased by his son, Bryan; parents, John and Vivian; and brother, David.