Tribute

Allan J Lennea was born on August 22, 1941 to John and Iris Lennea near Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. He was the fourth of ten children. Edward (who died as a baby), Anne, Joyce, Allan, Colleen, Roland (deceased), Lenn, Donna, Wayne, and Loraine.

They lived at Grieg Lake, moved to Radiance, then to Compass. Hunting, fishing, and trapping beaver were the mainstay of life as well as farming. Around 22 years of age, Allan left Saskatchewan and eventually moved in with relatives in Whonnock, British Columbia, where he started work right away at the Whonnock Mill.

On July 15, 1967, Allan married Barbara Purdey from Hammond, British Columbia, whom he had met at the Burnett Memorial Baptist Church. They lived for the next 58 years on their property on Draper Street in Mission. Allan loved their hobby farm where he raised a variety of animals. He mainly raised sheep, but there were pigs, horses or ponies, chickens, goats, rabbits, and pheasants. In the end, there were only the Mule, Moosie; the donkey, Clementine; and a few chickens.

Allan had three children: Peter, Brenda, and Brad. Peter married Renee, and they had two children: Kayla and Kyle. Brenda married Jeff, and they had three children: Mitchell, Cassidy, and Riley. Allan was fortunate enough to meet his Great-Granddaughter, Evelynn, who was born on April 30th of this year.

After the Whonnock Mill closed, Allan worked at mills further away in Coquitlam or New Westminster. He worked as a millwright on graveyard shifts, which he did not like and decided to retire on January 1, 2000 at the age of 60 years old and began his “retired” life.

Allan loved curling and had season tickets to the BC Lions for 25 years. Allan also watched a lot of Canucks, and in the last few months, he enjoyed the baseball games on TV. Today, he is rejoicing in heaven where there is no pain or illness, and I’m sure he’s visiting loved ones.

Thank you Allan for sharing your life with us, and we love you.