Obituary of Bruce Edward ALEXANDER

June 12, 1946 – Almonte, Ontario September 14, 2017 – Calgary, Alberta Bruce beloved husband of Mary Lou Alexander (nee Reid) of Calgary, AB, passed away on September 14, 2017. Bruce was born into an armed forces family and that meant a lot of moves. His family moved from Calgary, AB, after WWII to Almonte, ON near Ottawa where Bruce was born. They moved to Ottawa, Toronto, Trenton, Camp Borden, Newfoundland, Ottawa again and back to Trenton all before the age of eleven! They stayed in Trenton until a final move to Ottawa where Bruce started at Carleton University in Engineering. In 1970, he completed his Applied Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering at Queen’s University, Kingston, ON. His first Job was at Dofasco in Hamilton, ON. In 1970 Bruce also met Mary Lou, and in 1972 they got married in Toronto, ON. At that time he began a career shift into the oil and gas industry and so off they headed to Inuvik, NT. After various small jobs with Esso, Adecco drilling and Northern Transportation (NTCL), he was hired by Gulf Oil in 1976 and moved to Calgary with Mary Lou and their first child, Shelley. He flew on a rotation out of Calgary, which became part of his work life for the next forty years. For example two weeks on and off, a month on and off or two months on and two weeks off – all depended upon the agreement. With Gulf he started as a coordinator at Swimming Point on Richard’s Island near Tuktoyuktuk, NT. He moved from there to Enhanced Recovery as the Arctic shut down after the results of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (Berger Inquiry). During this period, the family had another girl, Sarah, born in Calgary. The family then moved to Stettler, AB where Bruce did field work for Gulf in their Clive and Bashaw fields. Here was where Laurel (their third child) was born. Then back to Calgary for a manager position with Gulf, as the Arctic was once again open for business. This move didn’t come with the extra excitement of more children. The camp that he now built was his crowning achievement of his career, called Nalluk Base (Swimming Point). He supervised the bid process to decide who would be the builder. The piles (imbedded into the permafrost to prevent the building from sinking and protect the environment) on which the building base was constructed was named Alexander’s Forest. He supervised the construction and managed the operation of support for the drilling operation, alternating with a cross shift for a month on and a month off. This company was called Beaudril, a subsidiary of Gulf Oil and was an offshore drilling operation with the Kulluk and Molikpaq drilling vessels. Once that closed down, Bruce and a lot of his co-workers moved onto the joint Canadian/Russian partnership, called Komiarctic Oil in Usinsk Russia. He finished with Gulf in 1995 and went on to State Petroleum in the Sudan where he was an Operations Manager. In 1997 he worked with Hurricane Hydrocarbons in Kazakhstan as a Director. In 2000, Bruce and Mary Lou started a company called HPR Resources Inc. This company brought Bruce back to his “work roots”, with a contract for Arctic Oil and Gas Services, based in Tuktoyuktuk and Inuvik, NT. This work re-united Bruce with some of his old cohorts (some as early as 1972). His last company was Shell where he was a senior manager on two projects related to bitumin processing, each being about five years long. For the first project, Bruce and Mary Lou relocated to Fort McMurray for three plus years. It was a fun time – new friends, new neighbours, new work mates. He worked a total of eleven and a half years for Shell and when the projects were done, he planned to retire. As he stepped off the plane on his last trip home, he started to show signs of what would cause his demise. His plans to retire denied. No more visits to the cottage to do the annual maintenance and visit the cottage neighbours. No more family road trips. No more new milestones with his grandchildren. This past year was an investment in trying to get Bruce better. His achievements include being well respected in his last job at Shell, both as a mentor and as a significant source of information that helped to move the projects ahead in a timely and cost effective way. He was very healthy, never a sick day all his school, or work life. He has three lovely, smart and talented daughters, their spouses and five perfect grandchildren. Bruce and Mary Lou were together for forty-seven years, married for over forty-five years. He loved the outdoors and the bush, fishing, walking, hunting, especially with his family and our dog, Anna. He also loved his music, Rock and Roll, Elvis, New Orleans Jazz and the Blues. On Saturday nights Bruce and Mary Lou would often sit outside with the Lake in front and a glass of scotch or a red wine in hand, listening Randy Bachman and Holger Peterson on CBC. These were treasured times. Bruce is survived by his wife, Mary Lou, their three daughters, Shelley (James Purdy) Alexander, Sarah (Blair Scholefield) Alexander, Laurel (Matt) Hindle and five grandchildren, Jack and Leo Purdy, Taylor, Jonathan and Christopher Hindle, all of Calgary, AB. Bruce was predeceased by his parents, Jack and Sadie May Alexander and a grandson, William Alexander Purdy. His surviving family includes Bernice (Alan) Armstrong of Mississauga, ON, Jerald (Elizabeth Rickerby) Alexander of Toronto, ON, Ronald (E-Jenn Huang) Alexander of Calgary, AB, Gail Tays of Ajax, ON. In-laws, Beverley (John) Scarrow of Etobicoke, ON, Alana (Ron) Bartlett, Alita Reid, Bill Reid all of Dryden, ON as well as twenty-six nieces and nephews in Canada and the United States of America. The family would like to express sincere thanks to: Dr. John Kelly and staff (Sandra and Chelsea) at Foothills Hospital, Dr. Shaun Loewen and staff (Ginny) and Dr. Gloria Roldan-Urgoiti and staff (Sally) at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Dr. Artyem Dantzig and staff at the South Health Campus, Homecare Alberta Health Services, Chinook Hospice, all our family and friends for all the care, support and hope they gave to us. Funeral Services will be held at McINNIS & HOLLOWAY (Fish Creek, 14441 Bannister Road S.E.) on Tuesday, October 3, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. Reception to follow at the funeral home. If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to Calgary Health Trust – Foothills Medical Centre, Neurological Unit, Suite 800, 11012 Macleod Trail S.E., Calgary, AB T2J 6A5, Telephone: (403)943-0615, www.thetrust.ca, to the Alberta Cancer Foundation, c/o Tom Baker Cancer Centre, 1331 – 29 Street N.W., Calgary, AB T2N 4N2 Telephone: 1 (866) 412-4222. www.albertacancer.ca/memorial. or to Our Lady Queen of Peace Ranch, 258 Mountain Lion Dr, Bragg Creek, AB T0L 0K0 Telephone: (403) 949-2044. www.ourladyqueenofpeaceranch.com Condolences may be forwarded through www.mcinnisandholloway.com. In living memory of Bruce Alexander, a tree will be planted at Fish Creek Provincial Park by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Fish Creek, 14441 Bannister Road S.E., Calgary, AB Telephone: 403-256-9575.