Lloyd Alvin Barr

It is with deep sadness, but also gratitude for a life well lived, that the family of Lloyd Alvin Barr announces his death on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018 at the age of 91 years.

Lloyd was an amazing man and lived a very full life.  He was a kind man who was quiet at times but that also possessed a great sense of humour.  He gave of himself to his friends, family and community and it didn’t matter if you needed a doctor or a rototiller, he was there dressed and ready, willing and able to help.  He was a man very much loved by all his family.  

He was born on the 9th of January, 1927 and raised on his family’s farm, located in the Ardenville and Hazelmere districts south of Fort Macleod Alberta where he spent the majority of his life.  His first six years of school were done in the Hazelmere School and then he was moved to the Ardenville School on the Blue Trail, although he did spend some time at school in Fort Macleod as well. He graduated high school and was able to go to SAIT in Calgary where he obtained his auto mechanics degree and then moved home to start his work-life with Scougall Motors.  During this time he was also an active member of the Canadian Army Reserve and trained in Fort Macleod during WWII but was never called up for active duty.    

After settling into his career he took his next big step and was married in 1950 at the age of 23 to the love of his life, Donna Gunderson thereby unknowingly starting our family’s story.  He worked hard to provide for his family and was a firm but very loving father to all of his children.  He even built his first home in Fort Macleod, which he began shortly after he and Donna were married.  He lived in Fort Macleod until all his children were born and then when his Dad was ready to retire, moved his family to the Barr homestead on the Blue Trail in 1962 where he built his second home and farmed his family’s land for the greater part of his life.  A lot of wonderful times and adventures were had with him there. They opened their farm and home to cousins as well as Foster Children for several years.

As his family grew he spent time in many different roles in the Fort Macleod community, not limited to but including being a School Board Trustee for 16 years, with 4 of those years as Chairman of the School Board; he owned and operated the Texaco Bulk Agency after taking it over from his former boss, Mr. Scougall.  He was also a Property Manager in Calgary for a few years before he moved back to the farm. When he had time to himself after chores were done he enjoyed woodworking in his shop outside the house and made some beautiful wooden reindeer and other crafts that Donna enjoyed to paint.  He liked to watch hockey in the winter and baseball in the summer when he had a spare minute and always enjoyed taking the family on drives to Waterton for picnics. He was a funny, proud, honourable and incredibly loving man that always had a caramel in his desk for his grandkids when they came looking and would occasionally even pop his teeth out to scare the grandkids as a joke, who usually found it more hilarious than scary.  
 

Over the course of his life he spent time as a key member of organizations such as the Elks Lodge and the Masons in Fort Macleod and spent a great deal of time volunteering at the soup kitchen and helping with church events after moving to Lethbridge when he retired from farming.  He was there for anyone who ever needed him and was the type of person who would give you the shirt off of his back without a second thought.

Lloyd was predeceased by his parents, Victor & Sophia Barr; his sister Evelyn, his brothers Norm and Blair, his twin baby sons, Cameron and Gerald as well as many other much-loved brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.

He leaves behind, but will surely always be watching over, his beautiful, loving wife of 68 years, Donna and their children: Janis Tanner (Nick Kalynchuk) of Leslieville, AB, Greg (Nettie) Barr of Beaverlodge, AB, Blaine (Carol) Barr of Cardston, AB, Neil (Dena) Barr of Claresholm, AB and Matthew (Shelley) Barr of Coaldale, AB; 11 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. He also leaves his sisters Elma (David) Jessop and Merna Wiedwald. He was a husband, a Dad, our Papa, Grandpa, and a friend and words cannot express how much he will be missed.
 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Lloyd Alvin Barr, please visit our floral store.