BENJAMIN, ROY MELVYN Passed away peacefully on Feb. 3, 2007 at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver surrounded by his loving family.
He was born March 4, 1934 at Pleasantdale, Saskatchewan to Luella and Vernet Benjamin. He was the eighth of a total of nine children. Later, in 1934, the family move to Alberta and lived in the Rimbey area then the Beverly area before homesteading in the Moon Lake area where they arrived on June 12, 1937 and moved into a one room 14 ft by 18 ft home. They mainly lived on garden produce, dairy products and wild berries. Entwhistle was 12 miles away where they went for the mail and groceries. He attended Volga School (3 miles away on a trail) then the Brightwood School from 1945 to 1948. He went as far as grade eight in school. They attended picnics and Christmas concerts at Volga or Brightwood. Sunday school was by correspondence until they had Sunday school at the Brightwood Hall.
In 1949, Luella’s parents gave the family an organ and Luella would play the organ with Vernet playing the violin and they would sing together as a family. Roy and his parents moved into Edmonton when his mother got cancer around 1951. Luella passed away winter of 1952 then in 1953 Roy moved to Smithers to work for his brother-in-law. He work that winter in the sawmill then work for Barney Tysseland at his farm in the Evelyn area and logging in the winter. He led the Evelyn 4-H Dairy club for several years, was a member of the Evelyn Farmers Institute and the Cattlemens.
In 1971 he married Beverley. In 1972 Luella was born and he also bought the home quarter from Barney and the sawmill. He then farmed, ran the sawmill in the winter as well as Barney’s farm. There was a yearly trip to visit his family in Alberta back on the home quarter. In 1972 Tina was born, 1975 Erica was born, in 1978 Myron was born. Valerie came in 1980 then James in 1983. In 1984 Roy had open heart surgery and then in 1996 expanded his farming. His health started failing some and the last year was quite a struggle. July of 2006 he took his last trip to visit his family in Alberta.
He will be greatly missed by all. Roy is survived by his loving wife, Beverley; his children and spouses Luella (Mike) Moore; Tina (Mark) LaTrace; Erica (Jim) Zandberg; Myron (Monique Dugaro) Benjamin; Valerie Benjamin; James (Sara Howard) Benjamin. Grandchildren: Tim LaTrace; Megan, Danielle, Jessica and Sarah Zandberg; Myron J.R. Benjamin; and Hannah Benjamin. Also step-grandchildren: Trevor Dugaro and Seth Howard. Roy’s sister Elsie Rindahl and brothers Elmer (Ann) Benjamin and Vern (Lois) Benjamin also several nieces and nephews and their children.
A Funeral service for Roy was held on the 10th of February 2007 at 1:30 p.m. in the Christian Reformed Church in Smithers, BC with Pastor Dwayne Goertzen officiating. Interment was in the Smithers Cemetery.
If friends so desired, memorial tributes to the Evelyn 4H Club would have been greatly appreciated by the family in lieu of flowers.
Funeral Arrangements were entrusted to the R.A. Schrader Funeral Home, Smithers, B.C. V0J 2N0 1-250-847-2441.
“SERVICE WITH DIGNITY”