Obituary of Ervan David Poffenroth

January 14, 1940 - Calgary, Alberta

June 15, 2024 - Okotoks, Alberta

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ervan Poffenroth of DeWinton, AB on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at the age of 84 years.

Ervan was born and raised in the DeWinton area where he farmed his entire life.  He went to school on horseback with his sister Esther but always wanted a faster horse.  He would often help out a younger classmate, by riding their spirited horse for them on their way home from school.  Dad had a way with horses, and we always thought he would have made a great outrider for the chuckwagons.

When Ervan finished High School in Okotoks, he continued to farm with his dad and work for AGT installing the telephone lines in the fall of 1960. When Ervan married Shirley (his honeybun) they stayed on the farm and raised four children, while Ervan’s parents moved to town. His dad continued to farm with Ervan until Wade, his oldest son took over.

Ervan milked cows for almost 40 years, shipping cream (in cream cans) weekly to the Foothills Creamery in Calgary, raising feeder and wiener pigs which he would sell at Calgary’s Maclean’s Auction on Saturdays.  Ervan grain farmed and raised beef cattle with his son Wade for many years until Wade’s passing and then continued to raise beef cattle with his daughter Cheryl and granddaughter Grace.

Ervan was also a wonderful patcher, (a great skill to have on a farm), using scraps of wood, bent nails, tin, and anything else one would normally throw away to fix up sheds, fences, and barns, and they always turned out looking like new.

He was a beloved husband, dad, and grandpa, always kind, wise, funny, and forever loyal to those he loved.

Ervan is survived by his wife Shirley, of 63 years, his children, Kathy (Mike) Dunn, Ryan (Nora) Poffenroth, and Cheryl (Glynn) Poffenroth-White; and daughter-in-law Lorna Poffenroth, grandchildren, Krystal, Richard, Erin, Scott, Nicole, Connor, and Grace; and great-grandchildren, Alaric and Eldric. He was predeceased by his son Wade and granddaughter Megan.

Funeral Services will be held at Red Deer Lake United Church (West on Highway 22X past Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB) on Friday, June 28, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Reception to follow in the Hall at the church.

If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Foothills Country Hospice Society, P.O. Box 274, Okotoks, AB, T1S 1S1, Telephone: (403) 995-4673, www.countryhospice.org.

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

In living memory of Ervan Poffenroth, 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.