Obituary
ST. CYR, Harvey Joseph
It is with a profound sense of sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father at the age of 87 on May 29th 2020. Harvey was born to Lucien and Bertha St. Cyr in Ponteix Saskatchewan on April 7th 1933. He was one of 15 brothers and sisters who lived and worked on the farm during the Great Depression and war years. At the age of 16 he left the farm and travelled to British Columbia on his Indian motorcycle to pursue his dream of a better life. Upon his arrival in Vancouver, he took on odd jobs while living in his aunt’s rooming house. He had no idea that fate would place him next door to the woman he would eventually fall in love with, our mother Patricia St. Cyr. In 1960, dad and mom were married and immediately started a family. Dad worked tirelessly to provide and give life to their hopes and dreams. It was during these early years that dad sought to better his humble circumstances by becoming a ticketed Millwright. As the years passed dad and mom expanded their little family to four children and purchased a home in Port Coquitlam where we were raised.
Hard work made our father an incredibly strong and capable man with a heart to match his imposing physical presence. People often assumed dad was a hard man, but he was actually quite the opposite…to those who knew him he was a softhearted hero who never missed an opportunity to tell his family how proud he was of them. As his children grew and had families of their own, Dad would always look for ways to lesson the burdens of life for those he loved. He frequently and unexpectedly dropped by with bags of groceries and took on projects building porches, swings, gates and even made toys for his grandchildren. Dad’s approach to life was to look at everything with a sense of humour and he loved telling jokes over a beer at the kitchen table. He particularly loved teaching us all how to build things, fix cars and repair machines. Before retiring from Molson Brewery he was tasked with fixing a mechanical problem on the conveyor systems. He ended up redesigning the entire system, which saved the company millions of dollars in lost production. Molson Brewery took dad’s design and patented it, selling the design to other breweries throughout Canada and the United States. Dad was truly an adorable and loving man who worked hard all his days to make not only his children’s lives better, but also the lives of those people that were lucky enough to call him a friend. In the weeks before his death dad shared with us that he was tired and looking forward to seeing his mother, siblings and granddaughter Kayla who had passed before him from a childhood cancer. Rest in peace dad knowing you were the best father, husband and grandfather anyone could have asked for. We know you’re on the other side with your tools in hand making a place for us all. Try not to raise too many eyebrows with your sense of humour up their dad. Until we meet again, “Pops”.
Harvey leaves behind his loving wife Patricia with whom he would have celebrated 60 years of marriage this June. Also left to mourn his loss are his four children Donna, Norman, Keith and Michael, daughter in-laws, Susan and Angela, his son in-law, Don Krilow, his sister Alma along with 10 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. In addition, there are countless nieces, nephews and friends that will miss him greatly.
Services will be postponed during the Covid-19 health crisis with a memorial being announced at a future date. In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to a foundation of your choice in memory of our dad.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Harvey Joseph St Cyr May 29 2020..
Death notice for the town of: Maple Ridge, Province: Colombie britanique