Obituary of Leo Dayne

Dayne, Leon Albin With sorrow in our hearts we share that we have lost our husband, Dad, Grandpa and Great Grandpa, Leon Albin Dayne (Dzingielowski) at the age of 90 on October 29, 2017 at St Joseph’s Hospital, Gravelbourg, SK. Leo is predeceased by his parents Joseph and Sophia Dzingielowski (Radiuk), sisters, Josefa (in infancy), Rose Dayne, Ann (Jake) Braun, Julie (Lloyd) Nichols, Caroline (Sygmunt) Tejszerski, Josephine Dayne, his brothers Carl Dzingielowski, Frank (Helen) Dayne, John (Rita) Dayne, Mike Dayne and sister in law Leona Dayne, parents in law Ben and Minnie Fritz, brothers in law Ernie Maurer and Paul (Nan) Fritz, nephews Gerald, Tim, Greg and Johnny Dayne. Left to cherish his memory are, his wife of 63 years, Jean, daughter Lori (Garner) Deobald, Rhett (Brandee Murdoch) Deobald, Dryden and Ainslee, Bre (Todd) Horsman, Ayden and Evan, Kylie (Brian Hawkins) Deobald, Griffin; daughter Terry (Mark) Marchant, Warren (Candy) Marchant, Haley and Brinn, Danielle (Brandon Hoogenboom) Marchant, Andree Marchant; daughter Heather Heslop, Jesse (Lana) Dreger, Rowan; and son Sterling (Benita) Dayne, Brooklyn, Trista-Lyn and Shaelyn Dayne, his brother Joe Dayne, sisters in law, Rita Dayne, Ann Maurer, nieces, nephews and their families as well as many recently discovered second cousins in Poland and Australia. Leo was born May 10, 1927 on the NE 30-13-6 just a little south of Kelstern, SK on the family homestead in the RM of Shamrock #134. He was the 10th child of twelve born to Joe and Sophie Dzingielowski (Radiuk). The children attended Kelstern School #4610, developed a strong work ethic and somehow found the time to fall in love with sports...the girls excelled at track and the boys took up baseball and hockey. They were not afraid to work or to go looking for work. One of Leo’s first jobs, was when he and his brother John headed East on a hay excursion to Bonarlaw, ON. They were 18 and 19 years old on a great adventure. Once haying was done they headed back to the prairies. Leo’s jobs varied and we never tired of hearing him reminisce. He’d even surprise us once in a while with one we hadn’t yet heard of. No jobs were beneath these guys, making hard ribbon Christmas candy, cleaning pig’s feet at Swift Meats in Winnipeg, sweeping floors at Robin Hood Flour Mill, packing ladies lingerie at the Sears Order House in Regina, Sun Life Insurance at St. Victor, SK and the list goes on. Leo then took a job as a rod man with a survey crew. Off he went working on the pipeline from Leduc and heading east. One summer he walked the survey line from Rosetown to Regina three times. Leo then joined the Department of Highways and started surveying projects such as the bridge at Sask Landing and the highway and salt plant lagoons at Chaplin. In 1952 Leo’s brother Frank called with a business proposal...the International Harvester dealership at Hodgeville. Leo agreed and Dayne Bros. came into being. Dad and Mom met in Hodgeville. Mom thought he was very handsome! Mom was attending school in Gravelbourg but was home most weekends as she worked in the telephone office. On December 28, 1953 she married that handsome young man...Leo Dayne. The call back to the farm was strong and in the fall of 1964, the Doc Michell farm was purchased. In April of 67 Dayne Bros closed and Dad was farming full time. By 1969 the Charolais heifers arrived and the tattoo letters LEO were assigned by the Canadian Charolais Association. Dad and Mom never hit the show road or consignment sales...just quietly built a strong bull clientele in southwest Saskatchewan. In the summer of 1973 the six of us moved into the old house on the farm. Dad and Mom began adding to the yard, planting trees, building bins, and a new house. They turned that tired old homestead into a show place. Dad and Sterling partnered up on a water truck serving the Alberta oil patch and Sterling farmed part time with Dad. Eventually Sterling moved home and they became full time farming partners. Innovative, open minded and hard working...they farmed together until 2012, when they rented out the land. Dad was 85 years old. As Dad began to step back a bit Sterling took over the seeding, spraying and harvesting duties, the cropping decisions and marketing. Dad and Mom became official go fors and made sure the seed was treated, the water tanks were full and moved to the correct fields, the grain trucks were unloaded, the augers were moved, semis were loaded and drove for parts. Their farm equipment auction was October 28, 2013. Dad nurtured a hidden talent for woodworking! His masterpieces and treasured family keepsakes were worked on with the same attention to detail that he did everything else with. Even his most recent great grandchildren have treasure boxes made for them. Did you know our Dad loved trees...they planted evergreens, poplars, saskatoons, more evergreens, more poplars and lilacs. Dad could be found on his Kubota tractor...watering trees, mulching trees, mowing acres of lawn. He and Mom gardened and shared their produce with many. Dad’s specialty was tomatoes...hundreds of pounds of tomatoes. Hunting, big game, upland birds and waterfowl, fishing, hockey, baseball, curling and bowling...Leo was an outdoorsman, an excellent marksman and an athlete. Leo, Sterling and Keith Muckelt were deer hunting and a big buck was heading to a double pasture fence. Just as it jumped, Leo shot it mid air. Don’t believe it? Ask Sterling!! Dad and Mom became their grandchildren’s biggest fans. They travelled the whole country watching hockey, ringette, baseball, fastball, volleyball, badminton, track, figure skating, dance, soccer and moto cross. Dad loved their trips to Terry and Mark’s in Nova Scotia, picking fruit, eating lobster and scallops, visiting, building, fixing and catching up with the grandchildren. Dad and Mom made several trips to Heather’s in Medicine Hat for shopping excursions, greenhouse visits and enjoyed both furniture restoration and gardening projects. In 2008 Leo, Jean, Lori and cousin Julie Crawford travelled to Poland and Ukraine to visit Leo’s father’s birth place in Poland and his mother’s in Ukraine. This trip was very special, meeting many relatives. Leo kept mentioning how amazed he was to be walking on the ancestral lands that several generations of his family farmed. Our dad loved ice cream, auction sales, jersey milk chocolate bars, all you can eat shrimp, mandarin oranges, homemade soup, Kentucky Fried chicken, hot summer days with a beer and clam on ice on the deck, a good ball game or curling match, a rare steak with red wine, good dogs, good horses, white cattle and sneaking a smoke. He detested bugs, weeds, gophers and those robins eating his Saskatoons. He would gladly lend a hand to family and neighbours and loved to visit with family, friends and pretty much any random stranger that he came upon. Leo was a close talker and if you guys never received his signature two finger tap on your chest during a conversation then you didn’t get deep enough into the subject!! He loved perfectly manicured lawns, his zero turn mower, International Harvester, cribbage, hunting, fishing, old time country music and his church but his biggest passions in life were his wife, his kids, grandkids, great grandkids, his farm and his agriculture way of life. Leo came from the old school and his math skills were something to be envied. His handwriting to the last was nothing short of beautiful. Even though it’s been 50 years since Dayne Bros closed its doors, Leo could still tell you who bought what, when, the model number, the specs, the price, the trade in, any bearing number and ran his farm office just like the days he did the books for Dayne Bros and cashiered for Dayne’s Auction. July 9th Leo broke his hip and had surgery to pin it in Moose Jaw. He was transferred to Clover House in Swift Current. He started physiotherapy and it was here that his strength, work ethic and determination shone. He had physio twice daily and while it was exhausting some days, he never waivered in his goal to strengthen his upper body, walk with a walker, do stairs and get back home to Mom and his farm. Mom was with him every step of the way. Dad kept the most amazing positive attitude throughout it all. He arrived home mid afternoon October 4th...he had a smile from ear to ear and we had that beer and clam toast on the deck, in the sunshine...it was perfect...welcome home... Last Sunday morning, suddenly, quickly, quietly and without pain, Dad said goodbye to Mom and he was gone. Prayers were held Nov. 4, 2017 at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Hodgeville, SK. The funeral mass was celebrated Friday, Nov 5, 2017 at St. Joseph’s with Fr. Hector Seville officiating. Leo’s grandchildren were his pall bearers. Interment at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, Hodgeville,SK. To all of you who showed Dad and Mom so much kindness and care, to the staff at Clover House in Swift Current who through your dedication and compassion enabled Dad to reach his goal of walking again and going home to Mom and the farm...thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We miss him so much. God bless you Leo, husband, Dad, Grandpa, Great Grandpa and all our memories of you. ‘It’s just a strand of wheat is all, not too proud, not too tall, But families live and die by it, they bow their heads and pray, They rise up every morning and they work another day’