Obituary of Philip Klein

Philip Klein 1921 - 2010 My Grandpa was born on January 5, 1921 in Jansen, Saskatchewan. He was the seventh child of thirteen born to Frederick and Augusta Klein. He went to school in Jansen and later joined the army. The army was very important to my Grandpa and he was proud to have served his country. He received four medals during his time in the army and fought in World War II in France, Germany and England. He received a medal for bravery during this time and was eventually wounded in action and returned home. He met my Grandma, Nina Smith, in 1946 in Vernon, BC. My Grandma told us that being the "ladies man” he was, he made a date not only with my Grandma, but also with my Grandma’s sister. He later got caught sneaking my Grandma into the barracks in Vernon and ended up getting fired. They got married in 1975 and had six children – Ron, Fred, Brenda, Linda, Allan and Bob. The army took my Grandpa’s family from place to place and in 1953 they moved to Fort Nelson and he became a security guard. In 1963 they moved to Dawson Creek and were given land by the army, which my Grandpa farmed. After working for the City of Dawson Creek for a short time, they sold their homestead and retired to Vernon, BC. My Grandpa never could stay in one place with one vehicle, and was always looking for a good trade or another move to make. That brought him back to the Dawson Creek area to Arras, took him back to the Okanagan once more, and a final return to Dawson Creek, where he lived until he passed away on May 28, 2010. My Grandpa was a prankster! He loved everything from "pull my finger”, "lift my finger”, and the "belt/neck” pull to taping a cat’s paws, tying cans to a cat’s tail, dressing up like a bear and scaring his kids, having you look down his sleeve for the stars while he poured water down that sleeve and getting you to see if, on all-fours, you could lift your leg as high as the length of your arm, kinda like a dog. He loved sneaking up on people and tickling their ear with a piece of straw. He chuckled when he got away with these things, and his body shook when he laughed. I will always remember his chuckle. My Grandpa loved reading western novels and watching western movies. He liked to watch wrestling, listen to Frank Sinatra, loved animals and chewing "snuff”. Most of all though, he loved playing poker. He taught his kids to play poker at a young age, which resulted in my mom losing all of the red cross money to her brothers in one game. Our family has had many great poker games with my Grandpa over the years. Family was really important to my Grandpa and he always made sure to take his kids on a vacation every year. He also loved picnics, so my Grandma would make a nice picnic lunch, but being as impatient as he was, he would end up pulling over and the family would have the picnic on the side of the road. He loved his kids. My mom told me that he used to bring home chocolate bars for the kids – he would set them on the table and they would quickly grab the one they wanted before anyone else got it. One of the last things he wanted to do was to buy his kids a chocolate bar. He loved his visits with his family and no matter what, would thank us for coming each and every week without fail. We were lucky enough to have our children, his great-grandchildren, meet him and know him. Grandpa passed away peacefully on May 28th, 2010 in Dawson Creek; but not before telling Care Aid that he loved her and asking for a beer! A memorial service was held on Thursday, June 3, 2010 followed by a family inurnment in the Brookside cemetery, Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Expressions of sympathy in memory of Philip may be made by donation to the ‘Canadian Cancer Society’ 1000 – 105 Avenue, Dawson Creek, British Columbia V1G 2B9.