David’s Obituary
Atkinson, David Chester- It is with great sadness that we must announce the passing of David Chester Atkinson of Middleton, formally of Saint John at the QEII Infirmary in Halifax on February 7, 2020 at the age of 72. David was born November 5th, 1947, at home in Lower Clarks Harbour. After graduating high school in 1967, he went north to work for the Hudson’s Bay Company. After a year there he decided it was too damn cold and returned home. He worked at Stedmans in Shelburne for a year then moved away to Saint John, New Brunswick where he spent most of his life, working at a mental care facility and the Saint John Regional Hospital. In 1972 he had his jaw broken while playing hockey for the Saint John East/West suburban League, on a breakaway he was hit with a stick by a defender, in those days there was no 911 system so his coach drove him to the hospital in his own car. He returned home briefly to live and take care of his grandmother from 1975 to 1980, working at the Bayside Home, and then returned to New Brunswick. When David retired from the hospital they threw him a party rewarding him for all his years of service, but he soon got restless so he worked for a time at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Power Plant as a security guard where he once confiscated a bottle of rum from one of the workers that David found during a search of his car. When he retired from there he found himself getting restless again so he decided to join a cleaning company, who assigned him to clean work trailers at the Irving Oil Refinery. When he retired from that job, Irving Oil threw him a retirement party even though he was employed by the cleaning company. We once teased him that the reason he continued to return to work was so he could have another retirement party. David then moved to Middleton to be closer to family, where once again the work bug bit him, only this time he worked for free volunteering at the CAPS animal shelter, where his love for animals and people led to his second family. He volunteered at the shelter for 10 years, faithfully performing his duties alongside the other members, he become a member of the board and reliably worked at fundraisers, helping to ensure all the animals had the best care possible. Throughout his life David had many passions, golf was one of them and he played his first game in 1965 at the Green Gables course in PEI. He played courses from Nova Scotia all the way to Florida, which leads to another one of his passions, travel. Over the years he spent winters in Florida and South Carolina, travelled to England, Cuba, Los Angeles, Paris, New York, Toronto to see his Blue Jays play, and many other places. In recent years he battled cancer several times, always staying one step ahead of the disease, and no matter the pain he always kept a smile on his face helping to uplift everyone around him. As his health declined he moved to Halifax to live with family where he quickly made friends. He enjoyed Wednesday morning coffee with the other seniors and always looked forward to Friday Pub Night chatting away and listening to music. To the bitter end he kept his sense of humour along with his compassion, often worrying more about the people around him than himself, he passed away peacefully with family by his side. He leaves behind his beloved cat, Nellie, along with all his furry family at the CAPS Animal Shelter, sisters, Cynthia Blades (Bobby) Barrington; Jill Brannen (Ronnie) Upper Port La Tour and brother, Peter Atwood (Charlene) Halifax, several nieces and nephews.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Lori Wood and Nurse Donna Boyd of the VG Hospital Oncology Dept., also the nursing staff of the 7.2 at the Halifax Infirmary, you all gave the best of care and compassion during David’s illness, going above and beyond to make him feel comfortable, just know that he appreciated each and every one of you and would want you to smile when you think of him. Cremation has taken place under the care and direction of H. M. Huskilson’s Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Barrington. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 15 at 2:00 p.m., at the H. M. Huskilson’s Memorial Chapel, Barrington, with Pastor Kent Blades officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or Minnie’s Fur Friends. Online condolences may be sent to huskilson@ns.aliantzinc.ca or you may sign the guest book at www.huskilson.net
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of David Chester Atkinson November 05 1947 February 07 2020..
H.M.Huskilson funeral homes and crematorium
Death notice for the town of: Barrington, Province: Nova Scotia