Obituary of Wendell Carroll

Wendell Carroll of Calgary passed away on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at the age of 58 years. “I was told that pancreatic cancer would take me in three to four months. It took twenty months before God decided it was time to give me some peace and came to get me on June 6. The final stages of cancer do not give you a very good existence, so I was ready to see what God had planned next. I had a happy childhood growing up in Selkirk, Manitoba surrounded by my mother, Isabell Carroll, still going strong in Selkirk, sister Anita Carroll, of Selkirk and brothers George (Carol), of Selkirk, Ken (Louise), of Winnipeg and my “big brother”, Ed (Judi), of Brandon. When I married Ilona in 1969, I gained another family as well: Walter and Elsie Stupak, of Richmond, BC, Wendy (Keith) Martinsen of Tsawwassen, BC, Kathy (Terry) Miller of Calgary, and Margaret Plett of Ladner, BC. My three sons are my proudest achievement in life, and my granddaughters are my biggest joy in life. My daughters-in-law made all this happen. Kevin and Anita (granddaughters Kristin, Katrina and Kameryn), Kyle and Denise (granddaughters Tiana and Taylor), and Kody and Tracy (granddaughter Kaia) all meant so much to me. The best thing that ever happened in my life was Ilona marrying me. We may have had hard times early on but I found I loved her more and more every year until we became inseparable. She was my main architect and she was the one who kept me going with the hated disease. I worked at some great companies with great people; Chrysler Canada, Shell Canada, Dome Petroleum, Bow Valley Industries (with two tours to Jakarta, Indonesia), Fracmaster and TCPL. I tried to use everything I learned during those jobs for the past seven years at Husky Energy. I really enjoyed the Frac Wednesday AM, No-Stars Friday AM, and Mario’s Sunday AM hockey teams. You didn’t have to be good, you just had to show up! My time spent at my ‘farm’ always rejuvenated me as I proved out that farmer’s adage that if you want to make a little money farming, you should start with a lot! For all those things, I am truly thankful and blessed to have had such a full and interesting life! Drs. Ron Young, Jay Easaw, Bill Hall, the late Don Johnston, William Zhao and Ed Harris from Maui all gave me as much hope and help as they could. I thank them. We beat the odds. I also thank Alison Potter, Carol McDonell, Bonnie Stewart, Michelle Duchnitski and Jay Brahmbhatt, the Home Care team that worked so hard to ensure my comfort in my final days.” – Wendell Carroll Funeral Services will be held at St. David’s United Church (3303 Capitol Hill Crescent N.W.) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. Forward condolences through www.mcinnisandholloway.com. If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the charity of the donor’s choice. In living memory of Wendell a tree will be planted at Fish Creek Provincial Park by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Crowfoot Chapel, 82 CROWFOOT CIRCLE N.W. Telephone: (403) 241-0044.