Obituary of Roy John King

After a courageous battle with cancer, Roy John King passed away, surrounded by his family, on Thursday, June 23, 2011 at the Provost Health Centre at the age of 46 years. Roy was born on October 27, 1964 in Auckland, New Zealand to Barry & Jean King. Roy will be forever missed and lovingly remembered by his wife, Debbie; daughters, Ngaire and Sinead; parents, Barry & Jean; sisters, Rosemary (Michael) Farrington, Diane (Mark) Storey, Glenis (Mark) Shirley; brothers-in-law, Denis (Diane), Norman; sisters-in-law, Lorraine (Paul), Donna (Doug); special aunt, Alice Rivard, and many extended relatives and friends. Roy was predeceased by his Canadian parents, Gerard & Esther Rivet. *From the family* Roy was born October 27, 1964 in Papakura, New Zealand, the youngest and only son of Barry & Jean King. Roy took his schooling in Auckland, NZ, and struck out on his own at an early age to pursue an agriculture program in dairy farming. This program led him to the International Agriculture Exchange that brought him to Canada in 1984. He was an agriculture trainee in Leoville, Sask., where he met Debbie. They were engaged and a year later Debbie made the move to New Zealand to be married there and dairy farm. They were married in Oct. 1985 in Auckland, NZ, and dairy farmed in the Waikato Valley. Roy loved Canada, the changing seasons, even winter, and decided that is where he wanted to be. They moved back to Leoville, Sask. where Roy worked on a farm in the summer months, and seismic in Alberta in the winter. In 1990 they moved to Macklin, Sask., where they lived until moving across the border to Alberta in 1993. It was in this time period that Roy became part of Winterhawk and his first steam truck. In the years that followed, Roy owned steamers, vac truck, maintenance and picker trucks. He was known to many as The Bear - his size and strength and great big hugs his signature. These were fun times, with friendly competitions with Brian Carter as to who could clean a tank better and faster or maybe who could jump across the dugout on a skidoo in June. Though many long hours were spent working the trucks, family came first with Roy. Whether it was just hanging out or teaching his girls how to use tools, his girls made him proud. Their accomplishments were his biggest pride. It was a family joke that when marks were brought home, Roy would smile and say "Good job, but there is always room for improvement!" Hours around the backyard fire pit were the family's favorite times. Roy loved to hunt and fish, but his largest passion was the Provost Fire Department. Whether it was responding to a fire call, designing and pipefitting a new truck or training device, his spare time was devoted to the Fire Dept. He was their Training Officer, and the same month he was diagnosed with cancer he received his Instructor's Certificate after spending many weekends over the years taking courses for it. We will always love you and miss you. You fought hard without complaint or giving a thought to the fact that yours chances of winning were so small. The past year has given us so many precious memories to hold in our heart. Rest my love, you have extinguished all of your fires. Courage is being afraid but going on anyway...