Emile Bruno Carl Vanaelst

Emile Bruno Carl Vanaelst passed away peacefully on Thursday, September 17, 2020, at the age of 92 years. He was attended by family and staff of Selo Gardens Personal Care Home in Regina, Saskatchewan. Emile was born on the family farm north of Montmartre, Saskatchewan in 1928. Emile was the only son of Oscar and Maria Vanaelst. He had four sisters Mary Couckuyt, Margaret Lachambre, Godelieve Lachambre and Madeline Gerein. After completing high school, Emile went to Teachers College in Moose Jaw at the age of 17. After completing a six-week course, he qualified as a teacher. He taught at “Round Grove” south of Weyburn. In 1949 his parents sold the family farm and purchased the Red and White Store in Candiac, Saskatchewan. In 1951 Emile married Theresa Pielak, daughter of Joseph and Stella and they moved to Candiac to manage the store. Emile and Theresa raised three children Milo, Dwayne and Shirley. Emile tried his hand at another Red and White Store in Balcarres and then worked as a photographer with Mid West Studios and Simpson Sears in Regina. Sears moved the family to Humboldt where Emile was the store manager for more than eight years. Emile moved on to become the store manager of Sears in North Battleford, a position he held until he retired. Emile and Theresa divorced, and Emile moved to Red Deer, Alberta before resettling in Regina. Theresa retired in North Battleford where she currently lives. Emile was very competitive and loved sports. He played baseball in his younger years, later he curled and golfed until he no longer could. He remained a life-long spectator of those and most other sports. In his final years he started shooting pool, and at age 91 he won a pool tournament in Regina. Emile was predeceased by his parents, his sisters, their spouses and recently his son Dwayne. Emile is survived by his eldest son Milo and his wife Laverne in Vancouver, B.C. and their two daughters Trina and Charis and their families; his daughter Shirley and her husband Guy of Calgary, Alberta and their daughter Corene, and Dwyane’s partner Theresa and his son William. Emile had a good sense of humour, knew the value of a dollar, and was well thought of and loved by his family and friends. Special thanks to the staff of the Selo Gardens Personal Care Home and to his niece, Coleta Hess, and all of the other nieces and nephews for the care and kindness given to Emile in his final years. He will forever remain in our hearts. Private family interment in Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Cemetery, Montmartre, Saskatchewan.

 

 

When Great Trees Fall ― Maya Angelou When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety. When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear. When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken. Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance, fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of
dark, cold
caves. And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed. ― Maya Angelou