Obituary of Art Jay Fee

The family of Art Fee is deeply saddened to announce his sudden passing on October 20, 2007 at the age of 64 years. The following is part of the eulogy read at the funeral service. In 1957, the teacher at Ranger Cabin School noted this on Uncle Art's report card: "Very bad posture, deep seated cough, PUNY". I guess that's what happens when you start smoking at the age of seven. Uncle Art would hide tobacco in the bale stooks, thinking that Grandpa and Grandma did not know. But Grandpa would move the tobacco to a different stook, and then he and Grandma would watch and laugh as the boys went to have a smoke, scratching their heads and searching all over for where they thought they had hidden the tobacco. At the age of 20, Uncle Art met Auntie Rita for the first time. She was a young girl of 16 and had come from Buffalo Narrows to stay for the summer at Grandma and Grandpa's, along with her friend Marie Buckley. Uncle Art came home during the night from working in Red Lake, Ontario. Auntie Rita and Marie were not going to get up, but Grandma advised that they may as well, otherwise Art would be in to see them with a bucket of cold water! Uncle later told Auntie Rita that the first thing he noticed was her great legs - they fell in love immediately and got married several years later, spending the next 40 years together. They raised their four children in Ranger, as well as opening their home to Auntie Rita's nieces and nephew from Buffalo Narrows in order to provide an opportunity for Susan, Linda, Penny and Anthony to attend high school in Leoville. If you only met Art Fee within the last 20 or so years, you know that he was a skilled truck driver and heavy equipment operator, a crafty mechanic, a negotiator of great deals who could dicker down the price on any item big or small. But you might not know that he could out drink any friend of any age, outrun any cop, outsmart any DNR, and put a holy bar room ass-kicking on any two or three tables of patrons in the roughest of venues on any given day or night. He wasn't mean, he just wasn't afraid of any person or any thing. He did not invite trouble, but he never turned away from it. He was an honest man, and if he invited you outside he would tell you exactly what was going to happen when you got there. Yes, this is the same Art Fee that turned to mush and smiles whenever there was a baby to hold, a child or grandchild that needed him, or a parcel from Sears that Auntie Rita needed picked up. The love Uncle Art felt for his family was simply unsurpassed. His generosity to family and friends was demonstrated by not only materials gifts, but more so by the help he gave so freely. If you wanted to buy him a coffee, you had to go to the restaurant the night before and pre-pay, otherwise you wouldn't have a chance! Uncle Art was completely unselfish, and many of the long hours he worked were not so much for financial gain, but because he felt and knew that people needed him. Uncle Art believed in trusting people, and being trustworthy - people knew he could be counted upon. If life were measured not in years, but in friendships made, Uncle Art would be a lot older than 64. Art is lovingly remembered by his loving wife of 40 years, Rita Fee; his children Janell (Gilles) McLean and their children Stephanie and Hailie of Chitek Lake, SK, Jason (Christal) Fee and their children Ashley and Carter of Chitek Lake, SK, Raelyn Fee of Meadow Lake, SK and Dallas (Sabrina) Fee and their son Reidar of Swift Current, SK; his parents Ray and Doris Fee of Chitek Lake, SK, his brother Albert (Irene) Fee of Chitek Lake, SK, his sister May French of Olds, AB, his sister in-law Autumn Fee of Leoville, SK, his uncle Ray Pickard, his uncle Gordon (Maxine) Fee, his aunt Gladys Boyko as well as numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and countless friends. He was predeceased by his brother Ted Fee, his father and mother in-law Reidar and Madeline Pedersen, his aunt Emily (Edwin) Hill and his uncle Mike Boyko. The funeral service was held on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 2 p.m. from St. Therese RC Church in Leoville with Pastor Leigh Sinclair as the officiant. Bill Martodam was the music director and sang One Day at a Time. The honorary pall bearers were all relatives and friends who shared in Arthur's life and the active pall bearers were Marc LePage, Dick MacDonald, Joe Maurice, Garth Sander, Danny Vandale and Albert Cooling. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Peaceful Pines Cemetery. Art was laid to rest in Peaceful Pines Cemetery.