Obituary of Alexander Lean

Samuel Alexander Lean September 3, 1919 – March 22, 2014 A first generation Canadian and only child of Scottish immigrants, George and Grace Lean (nee Blake), Alex arrived on September 3, 1919. While Alex's paternal grandparents and many aunts and uncles continued to live in Scotland, his mom's parents, Alex and Grace Blake, came to Canada from Scotland soon after the turn of the century and farmed south of the Rapid City. As a child growing up, Alex did not take delight in being named Samuel, a long tradition granted to the eldest boy on the Lean side of the family! It would be 1912 when Alex's dad came to Canada. George was single, in his early thirties, and eager for adventure. He followed his eldest brother, Sam Lean, who settled in the Fredericton area, as well as his younger brother, John (Uncle Jock) Lean. Aunts, uncles and cousins influenced our Dad's early family life. Alex reminisced about spending time with his boy cousins, Jackie Blake and Mac and Bill Lean. He was quite sure that Granny Blake, liked the "boys" better than she liked the "girl" cousins. After all, he confessed, the boys could pretty much do whatever they wanted! Dad spent his early years growing up on what he referred to as the "Doc Young farm" south of Moline. Doc Young, veterinarian from Brandon, kept a farm in the country. Alex's Dad, after arriving in Canada, joined his brother, Jock, who also worked there. Our grandmother, meanwhile, worked for the vet's family in Brandon, and she would come out to the farm as housekeeper with the family in the summer time. Married in 1918, our grandparents made the home there. When Alex turned five, his parents purchased a half section west of Moline. Dad vividly recalled the family's move to their new farm. This included a long, wagon ride with an unhappy cow tied to the wagon. Soon, it was time for Alex to attend Poplar Grove School, a typical one room school, west of the family farm. Not at all keen about having to start school, Alex recalled his first teacher, Mr. Peters, an older gentleman. Mr. Peters liked to have a snooze in the afternoon after the children came in after lunch. The success of children's afternoon pranks depended on how alert their teacher was! Somewhat frustrated about working on correspondence courses, Dad left school at the end of Grade IX. Lifelong friendships were carved during his days at Poplar Grove to include family members from the Greer, Clack, and Milton families. Nearby, Zion Church was also a centre of family activity. Being a farm kid, Alex spent much of his time learning about rural life from his dad. As a little tyke, Dad can be seen in pictures tagging along to help with farm chores. Not only was our grandfather a farmer, he was a bee keeper. One afternoon upon returning from school, Alex could see that the barn had burnt down. Grandpa had been "smoking" the bee hive. Fluff from the trees ignited and so did the barn! Alex's mom told us in later years that she ran out of the house to move a wagon away from the burning barn. Dad mentioned that the next day she could not budge the wagon! By 1934, a freight load of fresh lumber arrived by rail car from BC, and a new barn was soon raised in the farm yard bearing the Scottish name Blink Bonnie painted on the roof. Blink Bonnie is a Gaelic expression meaning "clear view". Alex was soon introduced to the notion of "co-op". A butcher by trade and involved in the co-operative movement in Scotland, his dad offered his butchering services to 12 families in the Moline area. On a weekly basis, one of twelve local area families would provide an animal for slaughter. The beef ring ensured that area families had fresh meat every week. Dad often mentioned how his dad loved his farm and farm life. Like so many others, Alex followed in his father's footsteps. A young man, Alex attended the annual Seed Grower's Conference in Winnipeg. He enjoyed curling with area neighbors at Moline and Cardale including the Murd Wiltsey rink. In his retirement years he made many new friends and acquaintances at the Brandon Curling Club. Upon his move to Minnedosa, Alex curled for a winter or so with his son in law, Mel, in the morning league. Staff at the Personal Care Home remarked that they could never remember any of their residents leaving PCH to go curling. This was a testament to the fact that at 87, Alex continued to be in good physical health. A hard working farmer until he retired, Dad's workday never ended before early evening. By the time Alex turned twenty, numerous families were impacted by the advent of World War II. Considerably older than our grandmother, our grandfather's personal health declined during the 1940's until his passing in March of 1947. As there were no siblings, Alex was granted permission to remain home from military training in order to run the farm; however, he was expected to raise a large number of hogs, annually, as a wartime contribution. At that time, the barn was refitted for hog production. Alex was introduced to our Mom at a Rapid City dance by a family friend. Miss Mae Milne was a teacher at Rapid City school. City. Dad soon became acquainted with Mom's family. Like the Leans, the Milne family greatly enjoyed their Scottish heritage which included good "old fashioned" hospitality and a mutual enjoyment of Scottish music as well as "old time" music and dancing. As were the times, Alex and his good friend, Deny Northcott, never missed an opportunity to enjoy an area dance. Dad would be busy hanging up Mom's coat at the dance hall while Deny would have whirled Mom around the dance hall 3 times! Their afternoon wedding was followed by a honeymoon visit to meet the Alex Blake side of the family in BC including family at Buckhorn Ranch. With the arrival of their daughter, Alexis, the following summer and their son a year and a half after, Alex broke family tradition regarding the name Samuel. Together, our folks welcomed their 9 pound newborn son who was named Dennis Scott Lean. Alex lived on the family farm for close to 60 years raising cattle and pigs while operating a grain farm. His work days were long days. Coming in at noon for one of Mom's many hundreds of roast beef dinners accompanied by fresh garden vegetables was always a treat. In good Scottish tradition, Dad's sweet tooth was satisfied as Mom always had baking on hand. A couple of cups of steeped tea in hand, Dad would catch up on the farm news and weather report and get an update on the current livestock and grain prices on the CBC noon radio show from. He liked to keep informed and enjoyed reading a number of weekly farm papers that arrived in the mail. Many a lunch and tasty hot meal were prepared and delivered to the field from the kitchen. Nothing was more fun than helping Mom load up the car to drive to the field on warm days to have lunch or supper and a visit with Dad and his long time, friends and neighbors including Roy Greer. Dad served on the Manitoba Pool Elevator Board of Directors at Moline as well as local school board. While there was considerable pride in our community that Moline was the first co-op to be established in Manitoba, Alex was true supporter of the Co-op movement. As with our Mom, words, alone, cannot speak of Dad's devotion to his family and his farm. As Alex and Mae made their move to personal care in Minnedosa, Dad continued to enjoy the aerial photo taken of the family farm in the 70's. Dad was 94 years of age when he passed away March 22nd. Family are grateful for the care, compassion and sense of humour that both Alex and Mae received. Shared at Alex's memorial, July 24th are kind words expressed by Dad's long time, dear friend and farm neighbor, Roy Greer. Roy's parents, Ollie and Jessie, farmed adjacent to our grandparents. While there was a ten year difference in age between them, age did not set Alex and Roy apart. "As a young boy the first person I can remember, other than family, was Alex, and we were neighbors for sixty years. I remember threshing, haying, seeding, picking stones and baling. We worked together all the time. Alex was a great neighbor. When you needed help, he was there. I often had trouble getting back to him as much as he helped me. In fact, after Alex and Mae moved to Brandon, I was in the hospital in harvest time. He made several trips out to the farm to swath. I knew he would not take any money, even for gas, so I got him a gift certificate from Co-op. He said nothing but came out one day when I happened to be away and left me some baler twine and tractor oil which he had purchased with the gift certificate. Alex had a good sense of humour and enjoyed a joke especially on himself! One day he had been out in the field with his truck and tractor picking stones and roots. That night he hopped into his truck and came home. The next morning he woke to the sound of a Ford Major running. While thinking that Bert, being his neighbor, had got an early start that morning, it suddenly struck him that it was his own Ford Major that was running! He had forgotten to turn the tractor off the night before! It would be remiss of me if I didn't mention the respect that neighbors and the whole community had for Alex, He was looked up to for his honesty, integrity and work ethic. He was missed when he left Moline, and he is sadly missed at this time. It is an honour for me to say that Alex was the best friend I ever had." This passage offered by Roy describes Alex, well. A quiet, peaceful man who enjoyed prairie life and "our farm home". A gentleman who gave a great deal and expected little in return. Safe journey, Dad. Your family continues to miss you very much. Honorary pall bearers for Mae's celebration Sept 22, 2014 included nieces Gail (David) Lane, Loretta (Stewart) Slymon and family friends, Elsie Jackson and Florence MacKay. Honorary pall bearers for Alex's celebration of life July 24, 2014 included Alex's cousin Jean Spiller, and family friends Elsie Jackson, Joyce and Gordon Espey, and Roy and Lorna Greer. Alex and Mae are survived by their son, Dennis and Jeanette Lean (Edmonton), as well as granddaughters Michelle and Byron Willcott (Fredericton), Terry and Marcin Zurowski (Edmonton), and Robyn Lean and Lance (Fabiosa) Edmonton. Daughter, Alexis and Mel Harvey (Minnedosa), granddaughter Alysa Harvey and Terry Ferguson (Thompson) and grandson, Brad and Mandy Harvey (Brandon). Presently, there are 7 great grandchildren. Genuine thanks to Rev. Natasha Pearen, Minnedosa United Church for her compassion and support to our parents and family. The family wish to thank the many folks at Minnedosa United Church for the lovely music and delicious lunch served. Many thanks to Beth English and Isobel Basso and accompanist, Eleanor Taylor for your beautiful musical selections shared. To Brockie Donovan staff members, your attention to detail and family support were greatly appreciated. Thank you to all, near and far, for your expressions of sympathy. This includes memorial donations made to the Patio fund at Minnedosa PCH in remembrance of our parents.