Lawrence Rufus Allan passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, at La Verendrye Hospital in Fort Frances, Ont.
He was born Sept. 11, 1933 to Rufus Andrew and Josephine Isabelle (MacLeod) Allan in Fort Frances and was raised at Rocky Inlet, where he attended school in a rail car.
He was united in marriage to Loretta Lockman on Jan. 27, 1955.
Lawrence was predeceased by his parents; and his brothers and sisters, Ray, Frances, George, Alden, Kady, and Lew.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife Loretta; son, Darryl (Marie) of Fort Frances, Ont.; daughters, Cheryl McLellan (Gord) of Rockledge, Fla., Lisa Morden (Randy) of Atikokan, Ont., and Susan Allan of The Pas, Man.; granddaughter, Allison (Jarrod) of Orlando, Fla.; and grandson, Christopher (Joannah) of Winnipeg, Man.
Also surviving are his brothers, Ted and Glenn; sisters, Bea and Carol; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In his early years, Lawrence worked with his dad and uncles as a commercial fisherman and trapping. He also worked in construction, for the railroad, in bush camps, and as a guide.
In 1953, he started work at the mill in International Falls, Mn., where he was known as Larry. He started work as a labourer, unloading pulpwood from rail cars with a pick, and worked his way up to being the superintendent of the wood processing plant.
This was the position from which retired in 1994 after 40 years of service.
Lawrence loved to hunt, fish, camp, and tell stories. In particular, he and Loretta loved their summers at Quetico Provincial Park and their winter getaways to Maui.
He was a former member of the Lions Club, a founding member of the Fort Frances Search and Rescue Unit, and served as a volunteer firefighter for many years.
In 1996, he was diagnosed with kidney disease but received a precious gift of life in 2000 when his daughter, Lisa, donated a kidney to him. Without her gift, you would have been reading this many years ago.
To honour his memory, the family requests that you sign your organ donor card and encourage others to do the same.
Nothing is forever and after 13 years, he had to start back on dialysis. The nurses at the dialysis unit in Fort Frances are proof that, from time to time, angels do indeed walk among us.
A funeral service will be held Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016 at 2 p.m. at St. John’s Anglican Church, with The Rev. MJ D. Leewis-Kirk, AOJN officiating.
The honourary pallbearers will be his granddaughter, Allison, grandson, Christopher, and “his grandchildren in spirit,” Jon Paul Patrick and Lindsey Sockolotuk.
Cremation has taken place and an interment service will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Hemodialysis Unit, Fort Frances Site, 110 Victoria Av., Fort Frances, Ont., P9A 2B7 or to a charity of your choice.
Online condolences may be offered at www.greenfuneralhomefortfrances.com
As Lawrence would say, “The thing of it is. . . .”