Stanley Francis Porritt was born February 27, 1925 on his parent's farm near Ogema, SK and passed away on Saturday, January 22, 2005 at Regina Pasqua Hospital. He leaves to mourn his loving wife, Jean of 55 years; daughter, Carol Peterson of Ogema and her children, Heath (Jennifer) of Saskatoon, Dianne (Cory) Cleverley of Saskatoon; his son Gordon (Jann) of Regina and their children, Chad (Crystal Masney), Jocelyn (David) James, and Joanna Porritt all of Regina; his great grandchildren, Journey, Chloe and Parker. Stan was predeceased by his father and mother, Arthur and Alma; his three older brothers, Charles, Albert and Kenneth Porritt; sisters in law Sheila Matthews and Doris Porritt; brother in law Glenn Matthews.

Stan was a farmer but he was the original diversified farmer. He worked off the farm at many things. He worked for Gronway Jones in the summertime before he was married and worked at the Coast for the winter and stayed with his older brother (Chuck) and babysat his nieces and nephews in the evenings. After he was married he drove school bus for twelve years. He started when Charlene Hill and Penny Longley began school and when they graduated, he retired from that job. He worked for Fritz Frank & Sons setting up machinery, going to Regina for repairs and delivering machinery to customers.

Jerry Tondevold and Stan went down east and brought back new trucks. They had to go into the States and when Stan applied for his birth certificate, he found out he had been registered as Francis Stanley Porritt. Since Jean's first name was Elsie the family always made a joke of this saying they were really Francis and Elsie Porritt but somehow they seemed more like Stan and Jean. They worked at the Curling Rink and Skating Rink in the winter time and when the swimming pool was built, they worked there in the summer time. When the Regional Park was started, it became a family affair to weed the banks of the sand lined swimming pool and the newly planted trees.

Jean was a teacher at Albert Springs School south of Ogema in 1948 and Stan started courting her. In the winter time, he would drive the horse drawn sleigh down to Dewey Johnson's to take Jean home and then get the horse started back to town and wake up when the horse pulled in front of the Livery Stable in Ogema and he would get the horse going again and wake up in front of the barn at the farm 11 miles north of town. Better than the cruise control that we have on vehicles today.

Stan was a farmer, through and through. When they moved to town, Stan considered it his job to do the gardening and cut the lawn. Last summer when he was on oxygen, he didn't have the strength to plant the garden and Jean did all of it. I think he was amazed at how well she did. He agreed with all her choices but as he said, "She did have a hoe in her hand, so I didn't want to disagree with her."

Stan & Jean were avid bowlers and they taught Gordon and Carol to bowl at a young age at the old bowling alley in Ogema. When the Ogema Fun Centre started up, Jean and Stan were on the same bowling team with Jerry & Bette Tondevold, Elton and Pat Hill. They were the longest continually running bowling team for 18 years. Stan won many trophies at bowling and when people ask Carol why she isn't a good bowler like her Dad, she would just say, " I am not as old as him."

Stan and Jean loved to golf. After Jean retired from working at the Post Office, they went out to the golf course everyday that the weather permitted. Dad always laughed at the "fair weather golfers." He figured that if you waited until the weather was nice, you wouldn't get much golfing in. Stan loved Men's Monday night golf and even the last couple of years when he was on oxygen full time, he still managed to golf and beat some of the others. Milt Lesperance was always trying to beat Stan and would make him laugh by saying "Let's go. Double or nothing." Stan took his turn at cooking the hamburgers after the golf game and always said that if you didn't like the way the hamburgers were cooked, you could do the cooking next time. Rumor has it that some of golfers would say, "My hamburger is burnt . . . But that's just the way I like it."

Stan was a volunteer all his life. He belonged to the Oddfellows, was on the Chamber of Commerce and was on the Ogema Housing Authority Board for 19 years. Even after the Chamber of Commerce disbanded, he still helped with the Pancake Breakfasts on Fair Day and Museum Day. Stan was a member of the Deep South Pioneer Museum and the Ogema Dew Drop In Centre. He helped set up the table for cards and bingo at the Drop In Centre and helped whenever he could. He was really interested in the Train Station Project and wished he could help with it. Stan was a driver for different people when they had doctor's appointments and when it came to Dad's turn to get someone to drive for him, it was really nice that we live in a community that is always willing to help one another. He was told, that what goes around, comes around and it was his turn.

Stan was an avid sports athlete and sports fan. He played on the Dahinda and Big Butte ball teams, played goalie for the Ogema Hockey team and curled until his arthritic knees wouldn't let him any more. Stan went to as many of the grandchildren's games as he could and enjoyed watching them. One year, Gordon and Chad and Heath and Grandpa went to Winnipeg to watch a Jets game when they were playing the LA Kings and Wayne Gretzky. Heath still has the autographs from that trip and really enjoyed it. Stan also enjoyed the Ogema Senior Hockey games and the Ogema Colt Fastball games. He watched ball, hockey, golf and football on TV and really enjoyed the Grey Cup Games. Stan and Jean watched the Grey Cup with the same group of people every year. It started almost 40 years ago and Stan took pictures and later took video pictures of who won the card games, who won the football pool and who threw the lemon pie. The next year they would watch the video from last year and reminisce before each game.

Stan had his regular routine with his friends. He would go for coffee at the bowling alley in the morning and find out what was going on in uptown, get the mail and go home for lunch. He would then go for coffee in the afternoon and see if anything new was going on and discuss all the happenings in the area

Every year, Jean and Stan would go to Gordon and Jann's for Christmas, stay overnight and they loved to watch the kids opening their presents and see what they got from Santa. Stan said he had a good life and enjoyed his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He always gave his time to the kids. He would tease them and make them laugh. Dianne remembers when she had pie and ice cream, she would have to eat the ice cream first or Grandpa would steal the ice cream and say, "Were you saving this for me?"

His camera was always ready to take pictures of them and their antics. It was hard to find pictures of Stan in them because he was always behind the camera. He loved to take pictures of the Fair Day parade. Every year he would take pictures, first with his 35 mm and later with the video camera. The good news was, he has lots of pictures of the parades; bad news was that we are not sure which year the pictures were taken and after a while they all look the same.

Stan had a heart attack in 1987, and that was when he quit smoking. In the 80's, he also had both knees replaced as both were worn out. In 1996, he was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis. In 2002, Stan went into hospital with a gall bladder attack and the doctors found an aneurism that was operated on the next year. Stan gradually slowed down as his lungs got worse and 2 years ago, he was put on oxygen full time. He never gave up any of his activities until he had to and was still driving to the coffee shop to meet with his friends once a day just before he went into hospital for the last time.

Stan and Jean went on trips when they were retired and some were with Mom's sisters and their husbands or it was with different friends. They went on the Alaskan Tour, Maritime Trip, Branson & Grand Ole Opry, Host Fest in North Dakota and for their 50th Anniversary, they went on their last tour to England & Scotland. The fishing trips that they took with friends were always remembered with fond memories and lots of laughs.

Stan had many talents that not everyone knew about. He could play the harmonica and his mother taught him to knit and do punch embroidery. He would hook rugs the last couple of years and we would call him "The Happy Hooker."

Stan was always thinking of others and even on his last day, he was still being witty while saying goodbye to everyone. He will be sadly missed by his family and friends. A Memorial Service was held on Thursday, January 27, 2005 at the Ogema United Church with Teresa Burnett-Cole officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations are being accepted for the Deep South Pioneer Museum, Transportation Division – Memorial Fund, Box 219, Ogema, Sask. S0C 1Y0

All those who shared in Stan's life and all who were in attendance were considered to be his Honorary Pallbearers. Luncheon followed the service and interment was at Green Acres Memorial Gardens in Weyburn. Arrangements were entrusted to Paragon Funeral Services of Regina, SK.