Alfred John Bennett, lover of life, friends, BBQ drinks, Spanish coffee, tropical family holidays, boon-docking, family sing-a-longs, trains, all things scientific, and general rambunctiousness, died Sunday September 5th 2021.
Alfred (Alf), the oldest of four siblings, was born August 5th 1940 in Victoria, BC to parents Alfred Ewart and Edna Dorothy Bennett. He grew up in Armstrong, BC with brother Doug, sister Sandra and much younger brother Ken on the farm, slaving away polishing oil lamp chimneys, hauling water, chopping and stacking wood – or so we would hear every time we whinged about cutting the grass.
Never one to test the waters with his toe, Alf would enter rivers, lakes and oceans with his nose plugged, a wild man’s yell, and a splash that would render all in proximity drenched. His favourite colours, he said, were green, blue and white and, he added, nature’s perfect creation of colour existed right outside his sunroom window in the green fields, blue sky, and clouds. These were the things he appreciated in life, the sensory stimulants: country music that tugged at heart-strings and made his then teen-aged children cringe (although one later impressed a first date with her ability to sing Marty Robbins’ El Paso from start to finish), steak and crab legs with garlic butter, the sun on his face, his hand being held by his beautiful wife and partner in life, Beth, for whom he played guitar while she sang as a way to tug on her heart strings (it worked).
Nick-named “Professor” as a child, Alf would grow to become skilled at imparting knowledge to others and general problem-solving and invention. These skills became the cornerstone of his work. He led signal training on an instruction car, driving with Beth from town to town following their home on rails. In his early career, Alf worked in CN’s Signal Dept as Maintainer, Designer, Instructor and, ultimately, developed CN Signal’s Electronic training program at the HQ office in Montreal. He then moved on as Canadian Sales Manager for a signal supply firm. These early work years took Alf and Beth from Edmonton, where eldest daughter Stephanie (Warren) was born, to Montreal where daughter number two, Diana (Marc), and son Kent (Melissa) joined the family unit. Final stop, though, was back on the rural homestead in 1978 where Alf started his own business working as an independent in the signal design field and built the family home in which the kids were raised and raised havoc and Beth still resides (with slightly less havoc).
His independent work took him to far flung places such as Algeria, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and France. He was the prime architect of the Calgary LRT signal system during the 80s and early 90s. Plus, there was a much longer stint in the-not-so-far US, where he worked on projects in Maryland, Chicago, St.Louis, Denver, Seattle, Dallas, and the Bay Area of California, using a signal simulation program of his own creation and setting standards for the creation of new LRT systems. The standards he established remain largely in effect today.
The only life advice Alf offered was while playing cribbage – “never lead with a six or a nine.” This helpful tidbit always accompanied Alf leading with, you guessed it, a six or a nine. He preferred to let others make their own way in life, but was always there to help out when a road travelled turned out to be rutted and rough.
Alf loved to volunteer in the community, devoting several years as the Armstrong Curling Club president, Rotary president, Lansdowne Water District Trustee, and member of Asparagus Theatre’s behind the scenes crew (lighting and set construction and design – for which he won awards).
Alfred is survived by all the aforementioned siblings and offspring plus his four grandkids Sam (18), Malcolm (16), Emma (11), and brand new grand daughter Charlotte (just over a month old). While he did plan to leave this world in dramatic fashion being crushed by space junk, toward the end he just wasn’t spending enough time outside to improve his crush chances. Instead, he fought a hard battle with multiple myeloma and, with the blessing of all his innumerable friends and loved ones who wished him peace, he was allowed to pass quietly and uncrushed in a comfortable bed knowing he was very loved and going to be very missed.
We will all be celebrating Alf’s life in the coming spring. He was so many things to so many people: husband, dad, brother, friend, neighbour, and during those terrible fashion years in the 70s he was AJ the DJ at all the basement parties (he even rigged up train signal lights to flash when the phone rang because the music was too loud). Until we can all get together, if you’d like to honour Alf, just perform random acts of kindness and help out wherever you may be needed. Celebration of life details will be shared once plans are laid.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Alfred John Bennett September 5th 2021..
Death notice for the town of: Armstrong, Province: Colombie britanique