Douglas Ralph Hand

Douglas Ralph Hand

"Opa"

1932 - 2021

It is with great sadness that the family of Douglas Ralph Hand announces his passing away suddenly, with his wife and son by his side on July 18th, 2021 in Red Deer, Alberta at the age of 89. Doug is lovingly remembered by his true love, wife Trudy and his children Crys, Cheryl (Shawn), Tony (Stephanie), Jason (Tiarra) and Ron, grandchildren Brooke (Morgan), Jade and Levi, Jabin, Rhiannon, Daniel, Jared and Jakob, Barry (Leigh Ann), Darryl (Kelsey), Katie and great grandchildren Krystopher, Taylor, Emma and Benjamin. He was excited to be a great grandfather again in December. Doug is pre-deceased by his parents LeRoy and Irene Hand,  his brothers Melvin Howard, Keith and sister Shirley Davidson, son Kelly and granddaughter Twyla.

He was born on May 17, 1932 in Burnaby, BC and in 1942 with his parents, brothers and sister moved to the family farm east of Lacombe. During his life he had various jobs working for the County of Lacombe and Thompson-Pallister, but trucking was his passion. He took over his father's trucking business and trucked until he retired in 1998. During his trucking career he made many friends and was know as the ‘Cowhand’.  He was known for handing out suckers to all the children of the farms he went to. He loved the farm and enjoyed gardening, growing his prized flowers - lilies, gladiolas, and experimented with cross pollunating fruit trees. He loved to go camping and would be so excited to go camping that he would wake up his children early in the morning. He looked forward to going to B.C. and pick cherries. One of the kids would always be on his shoulders. Even though he drove a truck for a living, he still wanted to go for drives around Central Alberta and would stop to get ice cream any where it was sold. He loved his ice cream!  You could always find him working and tinkering in his garage building various items for his family, rockings horses for his grandchildren, foldable tables, wall shelves, jewellry stands, a deacons bench and railings for the church. He was an active member of the Trinity Lutheran Church and was also a Lay Minister. In 2000, Doug and Trudy sold the farm and moved into town. He donated his tractor to the Vintage Tractor Society of Lacombe and was also a member.   

He was known for his punctuality, his kind words, being fair but firm. He was an incredible father and grandfather who always had stories to tell the grandkids. He will forever be missed!                                                                                         

If desired, Memorial Donations can be made to the Arthritis Society at www.impact.arthritis.ca.

A public Celebration of Doug's life will take place on Friday, July 23, 2021 at Wilson's Funeral Chapel Lacombe at 2:00 P.m. with reception to follow at the Kozy Korner.

Donations can be made in Doug's name to the Arthritis Society, https://arthritis.ca/

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Douglas Ralph Hand, please visit our floral store.