Mervin Lester Bjorgaard

Mervin was born on the family farm located near Perigord and Kelvington in Saskatchewan.  He was the youngest child of six born to Rachel and Oliver.  In 1956, when he was just 17, he followed 2 of  his older brothers to British Columbia, eventually ending up in Canal Flats.  His first job was in logging Camp 5, working up the Kootenay in the bush sawmill.  Later he worked in the local sawmill driving the forklift and front-end loader.  He always wanted to drive a logging truck and he eventually got his wish.  Being an eager young man, he was hired by W.W. Stapleton Trucking (Roy Stapleton) and spent multiple years hauling logs from the White Swan area.  Driving these trucks allowed him to become quite adept at repairing mechanical issues which would became quite valuable to him, allowing him to work on the many vehicles he would own.

In 1968 Mervin and a friend, Bill Magee, were hired as the first driving team, hauling wood chips from the Canal Flats sawmill to the Skookumchuck Pulp mill which had just become operational.

In 1972 Mervin married Diane Edlund who grew up in Canal Flats and had returned there to work as a primary school teacher in 1971. They had two children, Tonya and Clint.   In 1979 Mervin moved to Cranbrook and continued as a truck driver, hauling wood chips from the surrounding sawmills.  He remained at that job until his retirement in 1998.  After his retirement, Mervin became a familiar figure around town as he walked daily to stay in shape. He often went to either Tim Horton’s or the Dairy Queen for coffee with “the guys”.

Mervin enjoyed golfing and spending time with his family.  He and Diane enjoyed travelling, spending some time during the winters in Arizona or Nevada, as well as numerous holidays in Britain, Costa Rica, Belize, Hawaii and in the east in Toronto and Ottawa.  His biggest love, other than driving his grandchildren to and from events, was watching the Toronto Blue Jays. They travelled six times to Seattle to see the Blue Jays play live baseball.

In addition to his parents, Mervin was predeceased by his brother Russell, sister Thelma, brother Cecil, and brother Gerald.  He leaves to mourn his wife of 52 years, Diane, his daughter Tonya, his son Clint, his grandson Rhys, his granddaughters Jasmine and Jorja, and his brother Keith (Frances), in addition to many nieces and nephews.

Family and friends are invited to a gathering at McPherson Reception Hall on Thursday December 5^th at 2 o’clock pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations to the BC SPCA East Kootenay  250 426 6751 or Operation Street Angel Cranbrook 250 420 2756 ( or [email protected])

mcphersonfh.com

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