Leonard Michael Therens

Len is lovingly remembered by his beloved wife Connie of more than 60 years, his

 daughter Cindy (Ward) Streifel, his son Mark (Pam) Therens, his granddaughter

Delaney Therens (Joey), his grandson Taylor Streifel (Sky), his grandson Justin Therens,

his great-granddaughter Gracelynn Scott, brother Don (Irene) Therens, sister Eileen

Paradis, brother Ron (Gloria) Therens, sister-in-law Sharon, brother-in-law Bill Albers,

sister-in-law Heather (Garth) Schmidt, and numerous nieces and nephews.

     Len was predeceased by his parents Mike and Ida Therens, his parents-in-law Tony

and Margaret Albers, his grandson Dylan Therens, brother Frank Therens, sister Darlene

 Delorme, brother-in-law Leo Delorme, brother-in-law Gerry Paradis, sister-in-law Wendy

Rose, brother-in-law Floyd Rose, niece Erica Noll, and nephew Cody Paradis.

     Len was born on February 17, 1942 in Coronach, SK. to Mike and Ida Therens. 

He grew up on a ranch with his three brothers and two sisters. He spent his younger

days attending school and working on the family farm.

     When he was 16 years old, Len met Connie for the first time at the Folklore dance

for young people. Six years later they were married on June 1, 1963 in Bengough, SK.

They lived in Regina where Len worked at a service station. They welcomed their first

baby – a daughter, Cindy and when she was a few months old, they moved back home

to Bengough.  After a short while, Len was offered a job at Premier Feeds so they

moved back to Regina. The following year their second baby – a son, Mark was born.

     During the 12 years they lived in Regina, Len worked in a wide variety of jobs which

included: aircraft engineer, pipe inspector at Ipsco, painting houses/barns etc., worked

at the Firestone tire re-tread factory and he owned and operated a service station.

He also put siding on houses,and even cooked pizzas at Gondola Pizza. Mark and I

especially loved THIS job of Dad’s because we often got to sample the delicious pizzas!

     Dad later worked in the high Arctic as a Diamond Driller which took him to remote

and interesting places such as Yellowknife, Baker Lake and Baffin Island, and Churchill.

Dad told us when he first flew up to Baffin Island - the plane dropped off the drilling

crew with their drilling equipment & they had to pull the equipment up the mountain

by hand in pieces to the top of the mountain.  This is now the sight where Baffin island

Iron Ore is located.

     It was his career in diamond drilling that brought him to northern Manitoba working

for Manitoba Hydro where he was drilling on a barge in the middle of the Nelson River.

So in 1976, our family moved from Regina to Gillam where we lived for nearly 25 years. 

Len continued working for Manitoba Hydro during the construction of Long Spruce and

Limestone Generating Stations. He later started his own contracting business where he

owned his own cement plant, hauled gravel for Dept. of Highways on the Gillam Road

and repair work on the dikes for the dams, completed landscaping, and various other

earthwork projects. Living in Gillam also required a LOT of snow removal in the winter

 months. Additionally, he took on other jobs such as guarding for the RCMP, carpet

cleaning & transporting mail from the train station to the local Canada Post Office.

    We had wonderful family adventures while living in Gillam including snowmobiling to

our cabin, boating/fishing, helicopter rides, enjoying everything the beautiful outdoors

has to offer. Well…except for the hundred million moquitoes…we did NOT enjoy those!

     In 2000, Mom & Dad decided it was time for another adventure and moved to Swan

River where they purchased Green Acres Campground. Dad also continued his contracting

business for several years and completed many projects in the Swan Valley & surrounding

area. He particularly enjoyed working with his backhoe and continued until his health

prevented him from working. He also did seal coating & was maintenance man at Super8.

     Dad was very community minded and often generously donated his time/equipment &

expertise to many community projects both in Gillam and Swan River. One example of this

is when Dad helped install the playground equipment at Taylor School where Delaney

now works and Gracelynn attends school.

     All of the different work Dad did over the years allowed him to have a wealth of

experience in so many areas. As a result of this, even after Dad was retired, many people

came to him for advice and knowledge and he was happy to share it. It gave him so much

joy knowing he could still help and contribute in some way.

     Dad enjoyed his coffee!!  He spent many hours in coffee shops, both in Gillam & Swan

River where he could often be found “solving the world’s problems” with many of his

friends.  In fact, in Gillam they teased him that he was using the coffee shop as his office,

making business deals on the restaurant’s napkins. So for his birthday – they gave him his

own personal package of napkins!

     Dad enjoyed travelling and family camping vacations which took us to the Black Hills,

Disneyland and BC.  On their 25th anniversary, Mom and Dad took their first of many trips

to Hawaii. They also enjoyed two Caribbean Cruises, an Alaskan cruise, road trips to

Nashville, Memphis and also to Whitehorse to visit Mark and Pam. They toured many

other locations in Canada and USA. In recent years, Mom and Dad enjoyed taking their

motorhome camping but stayed a little closer to home.

     Dad loved his family very much. He was so proud to have Ward and Pam join our family

because he felt he gained another son and another daughter. Mom and Dad have been

blessed with three grandchildren – Delaney, Taylor and Justin, and now a great grand-

daughter Gracelynn.  Dad loved being a Grandpa and was so very proud of all of them. 

When the three grandchildren were little, Mom and Dad took them camping to Madge Lake

where they made wonderful memories spending time at the beach.

     Dad enjoyed all the family celebrations & gatherings, as well as the many firepits in our

back yard. In recent years when he couldn’t walk as well – he didn’t let this stop him – he

would drive his scooter right up to the firepit so he could be with his family and enjoy his

hotdog and coffee.

     We were blessed to have one last gathering with Dad on February 17th for his 82nd

Birthday Party with friends & family where Gracelynn helped Grandpa Len blow out the

candles on his birthday cake.

     We are all going to miss Dad so much and it is very difficult to say goodbye. We loved

him dearly -but wouldn’t it be terrible if it didn’t hurt to say goodbye to someone we cared

for and loved so much. Family gatherings won’t be complete without him but we will

continue to share the stories so the memory of him will live on. We will forever hold you in

our hearts.   We love you Dad.

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