Obituary of Edgar Ralph Heald

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and great great grandfather, Edgar Ralph Heald on Sunday November 13, 2022.

Ralph was born on July 21, 1924, in Clive, AB to parents Alva and Lulu Heald. He grew up and attended school with his five brothers and four sisters. In 1941, he moved to Edmonton to work at Marshall Wells Wholesale Hardware until he joined the Royal Canadian Airforce in 1942 at the age of 17. Ralph attended wireless school in Calgary for 3 months before being sworn in on his 18^th birthday. From there, he went to Lachine, QC and attended wireless school in Montreal, QC.  He served with the 119 Bomber Squadron, the 143 Wing, 439 Squadron, and 2ndTAF in Canada, England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. Ralph received the 1939 – 1945 Star, 1939-1945 Defence Medal, 1939-1945 Volunteer Medal as well as the Clasp and the King George Defence Medal. In 2017, Ralph proudly received the Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour, which would be the equivalent to the Order of Canada.

After the war ended, Ralph returned to Clive, AB to work and that is where he met and married Evelyn Mae McCormack on March 16, 1947. Together, Ralph and Evelyn moved to Hay Lakes, AB where he managed Beaver Lumber Hardware until 1953. During that time, they welcomed two of their sons, Dennis in 1948 and Larry in 1949. Ralph then moved his family to Ponoka, AB to manage the Beaver Lumber branch, it was here the family grew by two more, daughter Linda in 1956 and son Brian (Bud) in 1957. In 1960, Ralph left Beaver Lumber and moved to Brooks, AB to manage the Atlas Lumber Company for four years. In September 1964, he moved his family to the beautiful Creston Valley to manage Kootenay Lake Motors until 1966, when his brother Harry moved to Creston, and they bought Anderson & Trevelyn Building Materials.  They changed the name to Heald Building Materials and operated the store until selling to Revelstoke Building Materials in November of 1972. Ralph joined Canada Border & Service Agency in 1974 as a clerk and was soon promoted to Customs Inspector at the Kingsgate port. In 1986, Ralph was promoted to superintendent and manager of the entire Kingsgate area until his retirement in 1991, when he took the time to care for his wife Evelyn until she passed away from cancer in July 1991.

Ralph was an avid golfer and was a member of the Creston Golf Club for many years. He enjoyed his summers at Cummings Resort with his children and grandchildren. He was also a big fan of the Creston Valley Junior hockey team.

In 2005, Ralph met Dorothy Squires and they were married on May 7, 2009.

Ralph was predeceased by his parents Alva and Lulu Heald, wife Evelyn Heald, five brothers, four sisters, granddaughter Anthea Heald in 1994 and good friend Lee Aker in 2004.

Ralph will be sadly missed by his loving wife Dorothy, sons Dennis (Brenda), Larry (Joyce), and Bud (Laurie), daughter Linda (Wilf), Dorothy’s children Debbie (Jack) Shannon and Steven (Elena) Shannon, sister-in-law Dot Heald, grandchildren Lisa Law-Heald, Darrell (Susan) Heald, Tori (Greg) Dohlen, Curtis (Emilie) Fleck, Jerrod Fleck, Ashley (Rob) Heald, Erinn (Dustin) Willoughby, Kevin Cloutier and Jacob Shannon, ten great grandchildren, and three great great grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday July 29, 2023, at 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the Fleck Family Farm - 2522 24th Street, Lister, BC.

In lieu of flowers, friends wishing to make a memorial contribution may do so to the Royal Canadian Legion Br.#29, PO Box 135, Creston, BC V0B 1G0 or to the charity of their choice.

To quote his granddaughter Erinn “He will live on through all of us, and not a day will go by where we won’t miss him.”