Donald Thomas Green

Donald Thomas Green

March 6, 1927 - January 1, 2017

Don was born in the Beulah District in what his family called the Red House, on 34-15-26 (current Kling yard site). He was the third born to Fred (Frederick Charlton) and Maggie (Margaret Elizabeth, nee Sawyer) with two older sisters Hazel and Beth, and two younger siblings Marian and Ken soon to follow.  To be closer to school and a better water supply the family moved by a brook on the edge of the Wattsview plains at 13-15-26 (current Grainger/Lindenbach yard site) but finally settled close to town on 9-15-26 (vacant yard site ).

Don always spoke fondly of his young days in Beulah. Trips to school in a horse drawn sleigh van, outfitted with a stove to keep warm. Even driving the van once when his Dad was away, and getting stranded with it overnight in Uno during a snowstorm. Often visiting friends or neighbours with his Mum and Dad, like the R.B. Edmundson family, or walking across the field from their plains farm to play with their (Ted Green) cousins living in the big JT Green stone house on 18-15-26 (vacant, but most recently the Ringland yard site). And even sometimes taking long trips to Oak River to visit his Mum's Aunt Charlotte (nee Nesbitt) Post's family.  And he always remembered with a smile his Grandpa, JT Green, who was retired in Beulah, finding a coin or two in his pocket for him during school breaks, so he could buy candy at Forster's store.  He worked hard helping his Dad farm, but never spoke badly of it. He often recalled with pride their buckskin horses Bessy and Buster, and how one later harvest he was allowed to take them and join a thrashing gang working miles away on the Barnes farm.

In 1945 Don started work as a local CNR section man, eventually becoming a telegraph linesman.  In July 1947 he accepted work on a telegraph gang working in north-western Ontario. While employed on "Scott's" gang he fell in love with his future wife, Ann Pukal, who was working as a CNR assistant cook. They married in Fort Frances, on December 20, 1948. He and Ann both spoke very fondly of the friends they made and the time they spent working "on the gang"; never losing their love of train travel or the beauty of north-western Ontario. In the spring of 1950, now both stationed out of Winnipeg, they experienced the devastating 1950 Red River flood. As a senior telegraph linesman, Don spent hours helping to restore communication lines, boating to locations as far away as Morris to raise wires or replace downed poles.

After the birth of their first daughter Margaret in 1951, Don and Ann moved to Beulah to help Don's parents on the farm. In 1953 their second daughter, Mari-Ann was born and Don soon moved his young family to live on the recently purchased Alex Preston farm NE/SE 21-15-26, to start their own cattle and grain farm. There a third daughter, Barbara was born in 1959. When the Shamrock Community Hall was advertised for sale, Don purchased it for his growing family, moved it to their yard site and lovingly fashioned the dance hall into their new family home. He remembered Ann baking bread and a neighbour, George Cooper, helping him with the furnace when on November 22, 1963 the radio announced that John F. Kennedy had been shot. Don and Ann expanded their farm to one and a half sections over the years to include "Wakefields", the "Pink House" place and the "Quarter". There they lovingly raised their family including welcoming their daughter Mari-Ann's son, Kevin, into their home at 2 years old and raising him as their own.

When it was time to work from dawn to dusk Don did it; indeed in the early years there was much hard work for the whole family breaking land, milking cows, raising cattle, horses, chickens, geese, ducks, even pigs -- and of course planting and harvesting crops. Paying bills was always top priority. In later years there was more time and money for leisure and Don and Ann took their family on short trips to visit relatives, fishing, camping or sightseeing in northern Manitoba or in the northern United States. And when there was skating or curling at the rink, or a concert or dance in the hall, Don and Ann often brought the whole family. They were a fine pair to watch on the dance floor! Like his father and grandfather before him, Don always looked forward to getting out with friends and family at hunting season, and kept the family freezer full of venison and wild game birds.

Closer to retirement Don and Ann helped mentor their grandchildren on the life of farming. And as Kevin was active in hockey all through his youth, Don first tried his hand at coaching and later he and Ann simply supported, and enjoyed the friends they made, watching game after game. Don loved to see new places and he and Ann travelled overseas, cruised Mexico, the Panama Canal and Alaska and saw Canada from the east coast to the west coast, Churchill to Whitehorse - by road and rail. And they always loved coming home best!

When Ann passed away in 2009, after 60 years together as friends and partners, Don was lost.  But he continued to spend time with his family, travelling to the American south and mid west, growing his garden, canning his tomatoes, feeding the wildlife in his yard, watching the prairie fields through his car windows, and enjoying excellent health until the end. He was a man full of stories, and of a thousand professions. A fountain of knowledge of generations past. A man of few words who loved his wife and taught his children they could be anything they wanted. An observer of people, with the boundless curiosity of a boy. A farmer extraordinaire. A gentleman, a friend, a father, a grandfather and great grandfather who will be forever missed.

Don is survived by his daughters Margaret (Glenn) Hodgson and Barbara (Ali) Green, his son-in-law Scott Bending, his sister Marian (Jake) Carr, his brother Ken Green, his grandchildren Kevin (Michelle) Green, Graham (Salicia) Hodgson, Mark (Tiffany) Hodgson and Erin (Tyler) Hodgson. Don is also survived by his sister-in-law Irene (Ed) Brezinski, brother-in-law Joseph Pukal and many nieces, nephews, 'honourary' grandchildren, great grandchildren and cousins.

He was predeceased by his parents Frederick and Margaret (nee Sawyer), his parents-in-law Joseph and Mary (nee Olyniuk) Pukal, his wife Ann (nee) Pukal, his daughter Mari-Ann (Scott) Green, his sister Hazel and brother-in-law George Smith, his sister Beth and brother-in-law John Stowe, his brother-in-law George (Marian) Carr, his sister-in-law Violet (Ken) Green, his sister-in-law Victoria and brother-in-law Leonard Shewchuk, his sister-in-law Louise (Joseph) Pukal, and his brother-in-law Louis and sister-in-law Vera Pukal and many uncles, aunts and cousins.

A Celebration of Life was held in Beulah on January 14, 2017 and interment in the Beulah Community Cemetery will be held in the Spring. 

Don often said life is a journey not a destination; and he travelled well and longer than many on this earth.  May his happy trails continue.