Tribute Wall
Friday
10
January
Funeral Mass
11:00 am
Friday, January 10, 2025
Ste Radegonde Roman Catholic Church
5 - 4th Avenue West
Lafleche, Saskatchewan, Canada
306-472-5416
Interment
Lafleche Roman Catholic Cemetery
49.6978700, -106.5701300
Lafleche, Saskatchewan, Canada
Loading...
M
Marlene Dray pledged to donate to Canadian Cancer Society
Saturday, February 1, 2025
In memory of Paul Klein
Please wait
m
mtbag@sasktel.net posted a condolence
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
I would like to offer my condolences to the family. More than lkely Paul and family did not remember me. I was the baby sitter who lived down the road from them. I kept a strong connection with Willie and Marguerite throughout their years. They stayed with us during doctor visits here in Regina. They took us in when my mother spent her final days in the hospital at Lafleche. When Willie passed away we often spent good moments with Margurite and even went to visit her in Gravelbourg. We were at their funerals at Lafeche. We kept in touch with Michael and attended his funeral. The passing of Paul makes us feel the loss of a member of our family that we knew so long ago.
Thérèse (née Minne)
M
Monica (Morrison) Johnston posted a condolence
Monday, January 13, 2025
Our heartfelt condolences from the Angus and Elsie (Klein) Morrison family - kids cousins to Paul.
Paul's Dad- my Uncle Willy and our Mom - Elsie were siblings.
Paul was always a very kind cousin. We did not get to see him a lot as our family moved away from Lafleche - I was only 8 years old and I was the oldest. We got to family reunions whenever we could.
I am the statistical cousin that listed all the cousins one reunion - the one in Moose Jaw. I documented all the families - the Uncles and Aunts and all kids names and noted that we were 56 grandchildren in all . The Morrison family was 6 so I have always proudly said I have 50 first cousins on my Mom's side. My favorites have always been the 1949ers which of course Paul was one as was I. We three 1949ers remaining (there were 5) all celebrated our 75th this past year : Kathey (April 10), Paul (July 18) , and me (October 8).
My favorite memory of Paul and his family will be the HUGE and very special 70th birthday party that Paul and Carol and family hosted on their beautiful farm. Miles, my daughter Courtney and I will always treasure that as our favorite reunion. Thanks to all of your family Carol.
You will have so many happy memories. This will carry you forward. Prayers to you all.
Love from Monica, Miles, Leslie, Barry, Betty and Scot and Courtney.
bmjservices111@gmail.com
C
Conrad and Ronnie Lange pledged to donate to Canadian Cancer Society
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Paul will be missed so much by family and friends. Our condolences.
Please wait
T
Tannis Sewell posted a condolence
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Our sympathy to Carol and family. So sorry to hear of Paul's passing.
Jack & Tannis Sewell
S
Sarah Valentine posted a condolence
Friday, January 10, 2025
Uncle Paul will always hold a special place in my heart for his love of family, love of the land, good humour, booming laugh, and big hugs.
In 2017 we brought our nieces to the farm for a visit as we drove them from Manitoba to Victoria. They had lived their whole lives in Southern Manitoba which most people would not find too different than Southern Saskatchewan. Uncle Paul offered to take them on a tour of the land and, though hesitant at first to get back in a vehicle after hours on the road, they fell in love with it. The moose, coyotes, deer, and pronghorn we saw certainly helped, but it was the stories he offered and his passion for the area that really sold them. After less than 24 hours in his presense they felt his love and passion for that land and were in awe for all that it held; they felt closer to the Flats than they did their own hometowns. It was a highlight of the trip for them and me. He had a way of making people feel connected to each other and to the heritage and history of the land; something I strive for.
G
Gerry and Viviane Klein posted a condolence
Friday, January 10, 2025
I don’t remember when I met Paul. He was three years and a bit older than me so, for me, he was always there. Like my ears – I knew he was there even if I couldn’t see him.
But Paul remembered when he first became aware of my existence. The story came to him when we were emptying our family home in Lafleche when Mom moved out. Paul wanted to salvage anything of value and he saw value in a beat-up old lantern. It reminded him of his first memory of me.
Our family was living in a tiny three-room shack in the yard where our father had grown up. I was the fifth child so there were 7 of us in this shack. It had no electricity, running water, or toilet. On stormy day, probably late 1952 when I was weeks or at most a few months old, Dad and Michael were away, Paul didn’t know where. The cow or cows got out and Mom had to figure out how to manage four tiny kids and stray cows. She piled Judy, Paul and Dan into an old car in the yard – I’m thinking it was the 1928 Chev I barely recall being in the yard – and she drove after the cows. As she was trying to usher them into a gate the front wheel of the car went into the ditch and the car lurched forward at an awkward angle. She went after the cows and told Judy and Paul to take Dan back to the shack, nearly half a mile away.
Paul says he could see that lantern’s light shining through the window and they walked in the wet, windy night to that light, switching off carrying or guiding Dan along the way. Finally, he told me, they came to the door, opened it up and he saw me peacefully sleeping in a bassinette on the kitchen table. It told him he was safe.
There were seven of us, all born within 10 years, and all of us siblings remained close. But Paul was the one I always knew had my back more than any other, and he knew I had his. When my Grade 2 or 3 teacher sent a note home with me every day to tell my mother how disappointed she was in me, Paul intercepted the letter an in the same red ink wrote that I had done exceptionally well that day. I don’t think our mother was fooled but she did express pride in me for one day in a row, which brought me mixed feeling of guilt for lying to my mom but thinking it was better than the daily routine.
It was Paul who warned me when I had a rusty nail protrude through my foot, that if I told Mom she would force me to get a big needle – something I thought was just adding cruelty to an accident – and just when I decided I could extract the nail and ride out the pain, he warned me that could result in me getting lock jaw. Nothing terrifies a Klein more than the idea one’s mouth would be locked open and instead of spreading our wisdom it would be dripping drool. I opted for the needle.
As close as we were s a family, there was one thing that set Paul off. While I, like most of my siblings, couldn’t wait to head out into the world, Paul couldn’t wait to get back home. He loved that farm, he loved the land and, I think in some way, even loved every rough hand that he got dealt. And he had his shar of bad years with not enough rain, broken equipment, bad crops. Whatever came his way, he’d just go out and fix it.
When we were young, I recall Dad bought a tractor that was strong enough to break the prairie on the steep hill on the north side of the hilly land we, apparently without irony, called “The Flat”. He turned up so many stones I recall Dan, Paul, and I stood at the bottom of that hill and challenged each other to jump from one to another without touching dirt. I remember getting to the top of the hill crestfallen, thinking we’d have to pick up all those stones. Paul arrived up top exhilarated, plotting where we’d put the rock pile and how he’d go after those stones too big to pick that would have to be dragged out by chain.
One day, while picking rocks on that land, we came across a string of bones in a washout. When we came to the end there was a skull that was clearly from a bison. I remember looking across the prairie from our position on that hill and we imagined what it must have been like when it was filled with thousands of bison, rather than farms.
To be honest, we made some pretty good cowboys. One summer when Dad was away with all our siblings, I think farming in Sedley, Paul and I were left to hold down the fort while Mom worked at the hospital. She’d assign us a series of tasks that were meant to keep us out of trouble but one day, perhaps in a presage of what was to come, we hit the bar instead.
We were too young to hit the real bar – I think Paul was seven and I was four – but we made do at home. Paul got down Dad’s shot glasses and whipped up a big batch of orange Kool-Aid that looked a lot like the whiskey they poured in the old black and white dusters.
I’d slap a washer on the table and he’d poor me a shot. I had so many washers – and I didn’t mind spending then on him as well – that he soon had to make more whiskey. It wasn’t long, however, I was throwing all that up against a bale in the barn with Paul rubbing my back and imploring me not to tell our mother I was sick. I still can’t drink orange Freshie.
This wasn’t the only unhappy acquaintance I had with the straw by the barn. There was the time Paul, Dan and I thought we’d experiment with the science of parachuting. We climbed to the peak of the barn and dreamed of having an umbrella to float us gently to the earth. But there was none, so we tied strings to the four corners of a sheet, tied it to me and I jumped into an all-too-tiny hay stack. Rather than drifting down like a leaf, however, I landed hard. I still remember what it feels like to have your liver threaten to leak out your sinuses.
Paul knew he was too big for the experiment. He was big for a brother three years his junior and he was just simply big and muscular. I would pump iron and stretch chest-building springs then look at my perpetually scrawny arms then see his muscles straining while he would be reefing on a wrench on the combine and I would think “what the hell?”
It was his size and gate that earned him his nickname Herman. Ken Packet would be in class in the old convent and hear the clump-clump of Paul’s footsteps coming in late down the wood floors in the hall and he thought it sounded like Herman Munster from the old television series.
A couple of years ago Paul told me that, although he felt like he was shrinking, he believed that nickname would follow him to his grave.
And so it seems.
I would like to say that Paul and I never argued but that isn’t the case. Beginning when I entered my teens we ideologically and spiritually diverged. I became more small “l” liberal and an atheist while Paul became more big “L” Liberal, small “c” conservative and Catholic spiritual.
We had long discussions about these things but I don’t think any got heated even though Paul was given to emotional volatility that could quickly result in raised voices. And, when it came to Dan when we were really young, it was sometimes followed by minor physical contact.
There was a time the three of us, Paul, Dan, and I, were in riding, I think it was in the back of our old 1939 Chev when Dad stopped to talk to a neighbour who was filling his water tank from the creek.
Paul popped his head over the seat an recognized we were along side the 12-Mile Creek.
“I didn’t know the creek came this far,” he said.
Dan popped his head up, looked at Dad and the neighbour, then asked “What creep?”
“I didn’t say creep, I said creek.”
“You said creep,” Dan insisted.
I thought it was funny but the next thing I knew they were in fisty cups, tumbling out of the car like Andy Capp and his wife in the comics.
Dad grabbed the two of them by the collars like errant rabbits, tossed them back in the car and said: “I can’t stop and talk for two minutes without you two embarrassing me by getting into a scrap.
I thought it was hilarious.
Paul was quick to take offence but also quick to amend. He and Carol were playing Pictionary with his life-long friend Larry Vadimuk<???> and his wife. The women were cleaning their clocks when one had to go to the washroom and the other spouse went into the kitchen to get snacks. Paul and Larry paused in their blaming each other for losing so badly long enough to peer at the stack of cards. They decided they’d win a round even if it meant looking at the next card.
It was Larry’s draw and the answer was Dinosaur. They got in the ready position and flipped over the sand timer. Larry drew a curved line along the paper and Carol blurted out “Dinosaur!” Larry looked at Paul and said “What the hell were you waiting for? Why didn’t you answer?”
It dawned on the women that the men had been cheating. When Paul phoned me with the story I thought it funny but he felt bad that he and Larry had exchanged heated words. That t soon blew over and they remained close friends until Larry died.
Paul and I never really had words over the important things of life but we did have a 40-ounce hot debate late into one night over which one of us had the better dog. I didn’t really care all that much for mine but I think I still won the debate because Paul eventually had to put his down for killing chickens.
There was one time in the 90s when Paul phoned and asked if I would come down and help butcher a steer. He would share the meat. I drove the four hours south to the farm for the dirty job because I knew Paul hated this part of farming. He lured the steer to the fence with a pail of chop and using the single-shot 22 Coey my dad bought before I was born for just this sort of task, he shot the steer in the head. Stunned but not dead, Paul reloaded and shot again. Still not dead.
Finally, I jumped on its back and cut its jugular. Paul ran off to get the front-end loader, we hooked up the back legs and Paul began to lift only to have the hydraulic line break and oil shot everywhere. I was traumatized by it all – for a few moments there I thought I’d become a Buddhist – and I worried about Paul’s kids who were probably witness to these events. It was a stinking hot day so we had to hurry up the skinning and bringing the carcass to the butcher, who informed us he would have done the task for something like $25.
I looked at Paul and said: “I already spend $75 on gas and have to drive back again.” “Ya, in retrospect we probably should have gone that route,” Paul responded.
But Paul was accustomed to doing for himself. He built the house where he and Carol raised their kids with his own hands, he raised the farm yard from the dirt. When something broke, Paul would fix it. When the rain didn’t come and the wind blew, he figured someway to hold heart and soul together and kept the land when many others would have packed up and gone elsewhere.
Although our Dad was stingy with complements, especially when it came to Paul, he told me that late one day during harvest the tractor broke down and Dad was despondent thinking they’d be out of commission for days while it got fixed.
“I waited all day for Paul to haul that tractor into town to be fixed. As the day went on, I got angrier thinking he must be sleeping in until I went out to the farm and demanded of Tyler ‘Where’s your dad?’
“Combining, I think,” Tyler said.
“Can’t be,” Dad replied. “The tractors broken.”
Dad went to the shop and saw the tractor was gone and there was only a patch of oil and scattering of tools on the floor.
“After I came home, Paul spilt that tractor, took out the oil pump, fixed it and put everything back together and was out combining,” Dad, who was a trained mechanic, told me. “I couldn’t do that.”
There were some things he couldn’t fix, however. In the winter of 1993 we drove to Quebec to help our sister who was dying of cancer. She had also built her house by hand and had some final touches she wanted help with. This was hard for Paul because he always had difficulty dealing with death.
While we were there Judy asked if we would stay and help her die at home so she wouldn’t have to live her last days in hospital.
Paul looked after the kids, cooking and home while I looked after Judy as best I could. I would go around the house with my video camera recording day-to-day events, the kids, Paul’s cooking, the fixes on the house and Judy’s beloved wild bird feeders. I slept with a baby monitor to my ear and would respond to Judy when she was uncomfortable. After a few days I became exhausted.
Late one evening I was going to feed the massive shepherd when Paul offered to do it for me. I was going to film it for Judy but was too tired.
Paul, who had a healthy fear of the dog, put on his winter gear, loaded up the pail with food and tentatively walked through the snow to the dog, who was straining on his chain and barking in anticipation. Paul held out the pail like an offering, stepped on a door we had stored outside that had become covered in snow, slipped and slid on his back to the dog’s feet.
The pail and its contents flew into the air and Paul was covered in dogfood. The dog leaped on him in delight, pinning him down and gobbling the food off his face and parka. It was the last great laugh of Judy’s life.
Caring for Judy was perhaps one of the hardest things we did together. After he was diagnosed, Paul said he hoped he wouldn’t have to die slowly like Judy but would rather go quickly like Michael. Still, when the end came and it was like Judy’s, he approached it with courage and maintained his humour – just as Judy did when cancer claimed her.
It is the natural order of things for those of us who are lucky that we live, grow old, and watch our children grow. Paul died naturally after not only watching his kids grow but realising he and Carol had raised an incredibly intelligent, accomplished and courageous family.
That is the greatest legacy one can have.
T
Trish Staples pledged to donate to Canadian Cancer Society
Thursday, January 9, 2025
Gord, Dana, Logan , Maddie and Katie,
Our sincere condolences.
The Staples Family
Please wait
T
Terry & Marilyn (Vatamaniuck) Morrison posted a condolence
Thursday, January 9, 2025
Carol & family we are very sorry to hear of Paul’s passing. May wonderful memories help at this difficult time.
W
Woodstock Wildcats U15C Girls Hockey Team posted a condolence
Thursday, January 9, 2025
For our teammate Katie Klein and her family. Please accept our condolences on the passing of grandpa and dad.
G
Gail Gross lit a candle
Thursday, January 9, 2025
//s3.amazonaws.com/skins.funeraltechweb.com/tribute-gestures/v2/candles/material_candle_navy.jpg
Carol I am so sorry to hear about Paul. My condolences to you and family.
L
Lorie lit a candle
Thursday, January 9, 2025
//s3.amazonaws.com/skins.funeraltechweb.com/tribute-gestures/v2/candles/material_candle_gold.jpg
Our deepest sympathy Carol, to you and your family.
D
David Bolander posted a condolence
Thursday, January 9, 2025
To the Family and friends of Paul Klein
You have my sincerest condolences on the passing of Paul. He will be missed by you in body and soul, however, all who will miss his spirit as well.
Paul and Carol always struck me as the solid rock that is required by farmers who work the land and live on the prairies. To be able to withstand the elements when they are the fiercest during the winter, and trying during the summer, was a quality that went without saying. And I always admired Paul and Carol for these.
Though our visits became fewer and fewer as the years past, I remember fondly the “family reunions” held either away from the farm, but more vividly, those held at Paul's home. Loved the discussions over the kitchen table, even the semi rowdy ones. Paul the diplomat, making his point, yet, keeping the tone low with those that disagreed.
I was fortunate to live at Uncle Willie's home with all of the family. Sitting in the front room, listening to records, and watching TV without sound (WGN) was always fun. And so were my cousins. Paul always struck me as a solid soul, and i liked him for that very much.
To my cousins who are still living or deceased – you are/were my family, much more than you know. With the passing of each one, I mourn the loss greatly.
With the deepest of sympathies to Carol and family
David Bolander
D
Dodie posted a condolence
Thursday, January 9, 2025
Carol and family I am so sorry for your loss Paul will be missed. My thoughts are prayers are with you all
R
Ryan & Sherri posted a condolence
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Brett & Klein Family, our hearts are torn for you guys. Our thoughts and condolences go out to all of you during this extremely difficult time.
T
Tyler Irvine posted a condolence
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Brett and family, our thoughts are with you during this difficult time. We hope you find strength and comfort in the love and support of one another.
Tyler & Amanda
A
Anndel Carr pledged to donate to Canadian Cancer Society
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
My condolences to the family.
Please wait
D
Dave & Marilyn Ferguson uploaded photo(s)
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
/public-file/376/Ultra/d01eaa52-d2e3-4270-a707-40889dd9d688.jpg
We offer sincere condolences for your loss... we go back a long ways and have fond memories of Paul and will always cherish those moments...Hugs to you and your family as you move forward..
J
Jeremy Klein posted a condolence
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Carol I'm sorry to hear about Paul. I will always have a ton of appreciation for how much Paul helped grandma over the years with her land and will never forget what an incredible man he was. I really wish I could be there Friday but I'll definitely watch the livestream
H
Heather Anne Lavoy posted a condolence
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Carol and family So sorry to hear about Paula passing. We always enjoyed visiting with him an his friendly smile Was happu to see you for a few minutes inthe summer time Will cherish that short visit in the parking lot
Heather and Corky Lavoy
L
Laurie & Anita CroisetiereN posted a condolence
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Carol and family. We are so sorry to hear of Paul's passing! Hopefully, the great memories will comfort you through this trying time! Sending prayers.
E
Ellen Klein posted a condolence
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Deepest condolences to Carol and family. Paul will be missed. Ellen and Dave
E
Eileen Flichel posted a condolence
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
My deepest condolences to Carol, her family as well as his siblings. Paul was a remarkable man who made the people he talked to feel special. I always remember him with a sly smile and a twinkle in his eye! Although our lives took us in different directions so I did not see him often I always thought of him as a very special cousin.
R
Richard Poworski posted a condolence
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
I am so sorry to hear about Paul passing away. I always enjoyed visiting with him when we were in Lafleche and managed to meet up with him. I will always remember his laugh and big smile. My condolences to his wonderful family.
Rest in peace Paul. ❤️
B
Brian and Tanya Marks pledged to donate to Canadian Cancer Society
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Our deepest sympathies go to Gord, Dana and the entire family.
Please wait
P
Patrick Rea pledged to donate to Canadian Cancer Society
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
My sincerest condolences Robin and family.
Please wait
Please wait
J
Jim Hribnak posted a condolence
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Paul … May you forever rest in Eternal Peace
K
Kate Klein posted a condolence
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
The passing of Great Uncle Paul is very sad and my deepest condolences go out to the family and anyone else touched by the loss of him.
I hadn’t seen Uncle Paul since I was a teenager (over a decade ago) but I remember him and Aunt Carol making a point to come visit me while I was playing lacrosse in Calgary - which meant so much! I also have fond memories from when I was much younger and we were visiting the family in Saskatchewan. I would hide from Aunt Carol and her “kisses” (which I actually loved) and I remember hiding near Uncle Paul (who was smart enough not to get involved) because I felt he would protect me. He always seemed to have a big smile on his face and a gentle demeanour.
I don’t have many memories of him, but the ones I have are filled with love and joy for my Uncle Paul and my west coast family.
Sending you my love. ♥️
C
Claudia Jordan pledged to donate to Canadian Cancer Society
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
My deepest condolences, Robin and family. May your many memories bring you peace.
Please wait
B
Brett Dravinskis pledged to donate to Canadian Cancer Society
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
My deepest condolences to the Klein family.
Please wait
K
The family of Paul Klein uploaded a photo
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
/tribute-images/cropped/628/Paul-Klein.jpeg
Please wait
Assiniboia Chapel
601 Highway 2 N.
Assiniboia, SK
S0H 0B0
F: (306) 642-4175
Gravelbourg Chapel
100 5th Avenue E.
Gravelbourg, SK
S0H 1X0
F: (306) 642-4175
