Obituary of Lorne Coldwell

We have gathered here to celebrate the life and times of our fallen husband, father, son, brother and friend, Lorne Wade Coldwell. Lorne was many things to many people and was known by several names. The ones that stick out the most would probably be Tex, Horny Lorny and the Horne Man although I am sure there were others. I have known Lorne for about 40 years and although I would like to attempt to encapsulate just who Lorne was in this brief period of time I know this to be impossible. Back in the elementary days, Tex as he was known by back then, endured his fair share of bullying but always tried to meet it head on with his humor and likeable personality. At one point he even managed to develop an affinity for a particular condiment that he would use to his advantage. Fridays were always hot dog day and we discovered, thanks to Lorne, that mustard did not have to stay in the hot dog. He was not afraid to show off his mustard shots to anyone that would watch and even used the yellow sauce as an anti-theft device by putting it on his donuts to deter a certain someone from constantly stealing them. And as eluded to earlier by Joanne's letter, he and his brothers had a bit of an affinity for getting into trouble. He often said his crooked ear and subsequent selective hearing could be traced back to mom for pulling him out of trouble by his, although I believe Mr Mah at Grandview may have had a hand in there too. Fast forward to high school where Horny Lorny came into his own for it was there that he discovered his love and passion for football. He was one of the team leaders, always one of the first ones on the field and last ones off whether it was practice or game time. He had truly found his niche. And he always gave his all110% all the time and always encouraged his teammates to do the same. In fact my first year with the team I was one of the managers and when I decided to make the switch to player for my next season Lorne was one of the first to not only accept me on the team but helped me out with practices and plays, hints and pointers. Like I said, a true team player. His love for the sport was so great that not only did he return after his grad year of '87 to go to school/play in '88, he also found out that he qualified to play in 89 and low and behold he needed to get a few more credits in the first semester of '89 to officially graduate. After high school it was time to move into the real world of employment. And employment he did find. This multi-talented and multi-faceted jack of all trades, master of none had many varied career paths. He was a plumber, gasman, sales man, self-employed shop owner, loader operator, cable guy, professional driver, refuse technician and chef just to name a few. Both he and Elaine often quipped that he was a three year man as that was how long, give or take, each path would last before either boredom kicked in or another golden opportunity arose. And if at any time he was without employment and Elaine was "concerned", he would always say "Don't worry honey, I rebound". And darned if that wasn't exactly what he did. Some of these choices were a means to an end while others were based on a deep rooted passion. One prime example of his passion based career choices would be sales man. In the world of sales Lorne, or the Horne Man as he was known by then, was one of the best. He could sell ice to an Eskimo and sand to a Saudi. And he always took special care of his family and friends ensuring they got the best deal possible, almost to his own detriment. He loved swinging deals as was constantly on the lookout for the good ones, although sometimes the deals would get the better of him. This can be best exemplified by his love of garage sales and the sometimes massive amounts of stock that would be stored in the house, and in the garage, and in the yard, and in family's yards, andwell you get the idea. And vehicles? Lorne also had a love for cars and trucks. Just ask Elaine about the rotation of vehicles for her to drive. I have heard her say that she was driving whatever key was hanging on the rack. I believe at last count she was around 37? And although he loved to buy and sell them he also had a special place in his heart for the classics, having owned a '67 Camaro and the flame ladened 1957 Chevy Nomad. Lorne was always heavily involved in the local club, The Mile 0 Cruisers. He always loved to be involved as much as possible in the summer cruise. Anything from helping plan events, to BBQ'ing for hundreds of hungry participants and everything in between. And let's not forget his chef skills. Lorne absolutely loved baking and cooking. I would be willing to bet that there is hardly a single person here that has not been treated to his exceptional cooking and/or baking skills at one time or another. He loved to bake and it was not unusual for Elaine, Shawn and Derek to be awakened at 5 in the morning to the sound of the stand mixer going. In fact, the morning after his first procedure he was in the kitchen at 5:30 making cupcakes for the girls at the hospital for taking such good care of him. Oh, and his "Wacky Cake Recipe"? The truly amazing thing about this recipe is that it shouldn't work but it does and much the same could be said about parts of his life...they shouldn't have worked but they did. Lorne would take great pride in sharing that recipe with anyone that would show the slightest bit of interest. In fact, if you all flip your own cards over right now His love for cooking started at a young age from watching not only mom cook but dad as well. Just as anyone learning a new skill there was experimentation involved. Just ask Mom Joanne and brothers, Doug and Dennis about his spice period, with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg creeping into the spaghetti. And how about the early joys of hot sauce, where by the above mentioned guinea pigs would occasionally have their faces melted off. And of course the infamous scrambled green eggs that he made for breakfast for mom and dad after they had a night out. From those early stages to more recent times of pulling off a BBQ for over 400 people, or pulling together catering for a wedding at the last moment, to a simple, and I use the word simple loosely, breakfast for friends that come in to visit from out of town complete with his legendary bacon. His love and passion for cooking shone through always. For Lorne life had many ups and downs. Meeting and dating Elaine in 92 was definitely a highlight for him. So much so that he knew early on that this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. In 95 they tied the knot and so started the life of Elaine trying to rope Lorne in. In 96 tragedy struck when Lorne lost his dad to cancer. This was rather devastating for Lorne and it took quite a long time for him to get past it. The one thing that really bothered Lorne was that although his dad now had the best seat in the house to watch his sons' life unfold he wasn't going to be around to personally witness and be involved in seeing his grandsons turn into the exceptional young men they are today. Sometime later Tony entered into Joanne's life and although Lorne and his brothers wanted to be protective of their mom they soon realized that Tony was here for the long haul. In 97 Lorne and Elaine were blessed with their first child, Derek. Watching Lorne turn into a proud father himself was nothing short of fantastic and sharing this pride with Gramma Jo, Grampa Tony and Uncles Dennis and Doug made it all the more special. A few years late,r in 2001, Lorne and Elaine were blessed yet again with a second son, Shawn. I'm pretty sure that if his chest were to have puffed out any further with pride he wouldn't fit through most doors. Family life in the Coldwell house was always rather hectic and boisterous. It was never a big surprise to see the number of kids in the house swell well past the original number of 2. And there have been many a time that Karen, Riley and myself would come for a visit or a meal and wonder if this house had any kind of a volume setting. For how tough Lorne could be on the boys there was also no shortage of laughter too, especially when you throw in Derek's not so subtle sense of humor and Shawn's sharp witted sarcasm. Lorne also took great pride and joy in some of the more simpler moments with the kids. He always enjoyed going for a cruise with Derek, even during the early driving lessons that would seemingly give him fits. And with Shawn, the great pleasure and pride of watching him perform a magic trick to amaze their friends was nothing short of magical in itself. He would also try to pass along to both of the boys the art of cooking themselves, and especially have them participate in meal time prep as his sous chefs. The ups and downs would continue over the years with losses of other special people in his life such as Darryl (Beaker) and Drew but Lorne would always continue to push through, and continue to give of himselfnot to just his family but his friends and even at times to strangers. Lorne would never turn anyone one away and would give to anyone anything he could. Whether it was stepping in and picking up one of his nieces or nephews from school at the last minute to occasionally helping out his brothers with a project or two, to running out to the farm and helping out Mom and Tony. Sometimes it might have been the shirt off his back, other times it might have been a friendly ear. I know that both myself and Karen have leaned upon both Lorne and Elaine on numerous times, especially in the last couple of years and for that we are eternally grateful. Tragedy struck the family again in 2013 with the sudden passing of Lorne's nephew Brad. And again the family pulled together to try to get through. I truly believe that giving of one's self selflessly is a Coldwell family trait and one that Lorne truly exemplified. There was one thing that Lorne did manage to do for himself over the last few years that provided him with an immense sense of pride and that was to lose an amazing amount of weight. Lorne went from 347lbs at his heaviest to most recently down to 190lbs. I often asked him what he had he done with "that teenager" that he used to literally pack around. This achievement was one that he worked extremely hard and diligently to achieve and was met with great success and pride. Lorne was pre-deceased by his Father Fred in 1996 and nephew Brad in 2013 and is survived by his wife Elaine, sons Derek and Shawn, Mom Joanne (Tony), brother Dennis (Lara), brother Doug (Trish) and many many Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Nephews, Cousins and Friends. To his mom, Joanne I'd like to say thank you. Thank you for sharing Lorne with us all. No one can truly know the loss that you are feeling right now but know that we are all here for you at this sad time. To his brothers Dennis and Doug I'd like to say that although your big brother's ways of showing you just how much he loved you both may have seemed a bit misguided at times, he only wanted the best for you and your familiesalways. To Derek and Shawn I'd like to say that as much as he may have been hard on you both at times he only wanted the both of you to strive to be the best you that each of you could be. And to know that your dad's pride in both of you was endless and his love for both of you knew no boundaries. To Elaine I'd like to say that you were truly the love of his life. He would move mountains for you if he could and I honestly believe he was a better man for marrying you. To the rest of us here, whose lives have been made better for knowing Lorne, I'd like leave you with a quick quote... ``Don`t cry because it`s over, smile because it happened`` And to my best friend Lorne I'd like to say that I am certainly going miss you and everything that made you who you were but this isn`t good bye my friend, this is see you when I see you. Lorne, the world is truly a better place for having you in it and a whole lot emptier now that you are gone. Service 2:00 pm Thursday, September 4, 2014 The Alliance Church 9009 - 10th Street DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia, Canada V1G 4T1 Interment Brookside Cemetery 108 ave DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia, Canada