Obituary of Marvin Reed

Obituary Marvin Lawrence ReedJanuary 4, 1935- December 28, 2009On December 28, 2009 Marvin Reed of Fort St. John, formerly of Buick Creek, passed away at the age of 74.He will be lovingly remembered by his wife Svea of almost 52 years, his son, Norman (Brenda) and grandchildren, Melissa, Travis and Rebecca, his daughter, Donna (Daryl) and grandchildren, Christopher (Tracey), Mike (Kim), Angela (Derek), ]ennifer (Jason) and Sarah (Justin), his 4 great-grandchildren, Riley, Deanna, Levi and Eldon.Marvin was born January 4, 1935 in Barrhead, Alberta to Carol and Norman Reed. Throughout his childhood he lived in Barrhead, however during the war they briefly moved to Edmonton as well as other places for work. The family always returned to Barrhead where Marvin spent many days hunting muskrats as a kid. We remember him telling the story about walking home from school and checking all his traps.When he was 15, Marvin went to work in sawmill camps and from there he worked many jobs just so he could pay the bills. In the mid-fifties, he went to work on the D.E.W. line in the Arctic running cats. He also worked at building roads in many different parts of Alberta running several kinds of heavy equipment. On January 10, 1958 Marvin married Svea Anderson his childhood friend and sweetheart. Together they started their life in Ontario, so Marvin could work on the TransCanada pipeline. After that they returned to Barrhead. On November 23, 1958 Marvin's son Norman was born. He then came to Dawson Creek to live with Uncle Ken and Auntie Daisy while he worked for Gordon Gibbs running cats making many trips home to Barrhead to see his family. On October 4, 1960 Donna, Marvin's daughter was born.Marvin worked for different pipeline companies after that, when the Taylor bridge fell he was working in that area on the first pipeline on the Peace Hill. In the early 60's, he started a farm in Rose Prairie where he spent summers improving the land and the winters in sawmill camps south of Grand Prairie where he skidded logs. In the mid 60's, he moved to Fort St. John while he continued working the land in Rose Prairie. Marvin worked at several different jobs throughout the years. He worked on the Bennett Dam while it was being built, also at several service stations as a mechanic and in the bush with various contractors.In 1971, they rented the farm at Buick Creek from Mike Hassard. Marvin owned a truck which he commercially hauled grain with, for the local farmers. He also bought a cat and started clearing land for himself and others. In 1979, they bought the store and moved to Buick.Marvin had spent most of this life working towards building his farm and in 1974 he bought the land at Buick. In 1982, they built their home and throughout the years continued to develop it. In 1992, they bought their first cattle, 20 head of Black Angus. Later that year, they bought more cows, which were mixed breeds. Marvin continued raising cattle until October 2005, when they sold the cows and moved to Fort St. John.On a beautiful crisp winter morning, with the hoar frost heavy on the trees twinkling in the sunlight, a day he would say "can't get any better than this" he passed away. Marvin is the kind of person you don't forget. He is loved deeply by so many people and will always be remembered by those who cherished him. Services