Obituary of James (Jim) Francis Luelo

February 17, 1944 - October 11, 2023

Jim Luelo, husband of Ellen for 56 years, passed away on October 11, 2023, at the age of 79. He left life the same way he lived it, with courage, integrity, and love. It was very important to Jim to thank and acknowledge the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) team in Calgary who allowed him to keep his final wish. He left this world a better place surrounded by those who loved him deeply with the time to say all the things that needed to be said to make an impossible transition just a little bit easier.

Jim and Ellen had a love story that spanned over six and half decades after meeting in their mid-teens. It grew into a beautiful life together as husband and wife, equal partners, and best friends. Jim, with ease, was a feminist before men were feminist, amplified by the arrival of three daughters. He taught them everything that most dads taught their sons and to this day his girls can BBQ, paint, swing a hammer and with confidence fix or renovate most things inside and out.

Jim had an impactful executive career that touched many people as it was grounded in his lifelong desire to teach. His family was the largest benefactor of this gift. Whether it was in his workroom making bird boxes with his grandchildren or over the years with his daughters working on a school project, a “fix it” problem or buying a new car, he was committed to help inspect all the angles and applying research and critical thinking to decisions while most importantly, listening. In his last days in hospice, he provided very specific directions on hanging wallpaper for an upcoming project – and a warning (with a smile) to not let Mom help.

Jim enjoyed, in the last 25 years of his life, an opportunity to travel the world with his dear wife Ellen. Friday evening cocktails in all corners of the world gave them both great joy. They were like excited teenagers on an adventure every time they were dropped off at the airport and arrived home weeks later with stories and pictures of their adventures. They visited all seven continents and fifty-two countries, as well as waiting out cold Alberta winters with their good friends in New Zealand on a regular basis.

Jim had a twinkle in his eye and a fun, easygoing way of engaging with the world and those around him. Whether it was a backyard pig roast with the “gutter gang”, hunting in the mountains or endless trips to the hardware store or lumberyard for a project, he did it with humor, a plan and an expectation of a job well done and your best effort.

The kindness, respect and love he showed Ellen taught, through action, his daughters what a strong and loving partner looked like. In his room at hospice, he was surrounded by pictures hung by his family all reflecting a strong family based in deep love and admiration he had for Ellen. Those are the fingerprints he will leave on all of our hearts.

Besides his forever partner Ellen, Jim is loved deeply and is survived by his three daughters and two sons-in-law, Catherine, Christine (Kenneth), Deb (Sean); and six grandchildren, Macallum, Ethan, Madison, Ainsley, Jack (Brooke), Molly; his sister Susan and brother Micheal. Jim was pre-deceased by his younger brother John.

We will go on, not because it is easy, but because it is what Jim will expect. We will work each day to be all the things he has taught us to be kind, loving, humble, hard-working, and proud of the contribution we make to the world. We will never smell fresh cut wood and not think of you. We will see you in the blue sky, the contrails of airplanes and the canvas of the mountains.

At the request of Jim, no service will be held. If friends so desire, given that Jim lived forty years with a hereditary heart condition, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Alberta, 200, 119 – 14th Street N.W., Calgary, AB T2N 1Z6 Telephone: (403) 264-5549, www.heartandstroke.ca; or if preferred, the new Calgary Cancer Clinic, own.cancer.ca.

Penned with love by your three daughters.

Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Jim’s family here.

In living memory of James (Jim) Luelo, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Fish Creek, 14441 Bannister Road SE, Calgary, Ab t2x 3j3, Telephone: 403-256-9575.