HOWARD RAYMOND REESMAN

Howard Reesman passed away peacefully in Calgary, Alta. on Wednesday, April 3, 2002 at the age of 94 years at the Father Lacombe Nursing Home.
He was predeceased by his wife, Bea (Lottie Beatrice), nee Hutchings; two brothers, Homer and Harold; and sister, Reba.
Born in Kirksville, Mo., Howard grew up in southern Illinois, where his father, Burthel Reesman, was a doctor of osteopathy and his mother was a teacher.
After attending Milliken University and graduating from Eureka College, Howard studied for and received a Master’s of Fine Arts degree from the Chicago Art Institute.
During WWII, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in North Africa and Italy.
On his return, Howard, an avid outdoors and backwoodsman, made a solo canoe trip to Northwestern Ontario, where he met Bea, his future wife, whose parents, Herbert and Lottie Hutchings, operated Pioneer Lodge, a tourist camp on Rainy Lake, Ont.
After the birth of two daughters, Penny and Sally, the family moved to Oak Park, Ill., near Chicago, where they lived until the girls graduated from high school and university. Howard worked as an illustrator, and later retired as a teacher in the Chicago school system.
An accomplished artist, Howard painted in both oil and watercolour. He also produced many fine hand-crafted violins, viola de gambas, guitars, and a cello. Other construction included model and full-sized canoes, rowboats, Kentucky long rifles, and a few cabins, including one on his island on Rainy Lake.
Howard and Bea retired to Fort Frances, Ont. and were active in escapades on Rainy Lake in all seasons. They moved to Calgary in the late ’80s to stay with their daughters.
After Bea passed away in 1991, Howard remained in Calgary, attending art workshops, and visiting Rainy Lake and the Cascades with his daughter and son-in-law, Frank Colton.
Howard will be remembered fondly by all his friends and his daughters, Penny and Sally; sons-in-law, Frank Colton and Izmeth Sideek; sister-in-law, Mary Reesman of Eureka, Ill.; nephews, Dick Reesman, Lee Reesman, and Kevin Randall; and all his remaining family.
Funeral services will be held Monday, April 8, 2002 at 2 p.m. at Knox United Church in Fort Frances, Ont. Rev. Marietta Marshall will officiate, with interment in Riverview Cemetery in Fort Frances.
Friends may visit Sunday, April 7, 2002 from 7 until 9 p.m. at Green Funeral Home in Fort Frances.