Obituary of Dennis Ray Trevor

                     Dennis Ray Trevor was born October 31, 1951, in Cereal AB. He was the first child born to Ray and Doreen Trevor. He was followed by sister Sylvia (1952) and brother Leslie (1955). Together they grew up on the Trevor farm in the Esther AB area. He attended Esther and New Brigden schools, and then graduated from Oyen South Central High School in 1969.

                     Growing up Dennis was very active. He spent many hours riding his palomino horse, Pal. He rode the range checking and herding cattle and would take a pleasure ride when time permitted. 4-H was a big part of his time growing up on the farm. He enjoyed raising, caring for, and attending to his beef steer each year – great effort which resulted in many trophies of recognition.

                     He enrolled in post secondary school at SAIT and studied Petroleum Technology from 1970 – 72. Upon graduating he worked for Atlantic Richfield Oil Company for 5 years which took him at times to many remote and interesting areas of Northern AB as well as the international oil and gas meccas in Texas. This career gave him the opportunity to save money to buy the Dobrosky farm (west of the Trevor Farm), which his dad, Ray and brother Les, farmed for a couple of years until he was ready to take up full time farming in April of 1975. Along with farming and raising cattle alongside his dad, he continued to work in the oil patch as a gas well operator until 1996. In 1995 Dennis began the process to purchase the Trevor Farm; then after a few years of managing the cattle under a shared agreement with his father, he purchased the herd.

              Dennis was a faithful member of St. John’s Anglican Church in New Brigden. Under the initial guidance and coaching from Fr. Creighton Chew he became a Lay Minister for the local church. As part of the ministry team, he led Sunday services on a regular basis for many years. Fr. Creighton also engaged Dennis to assist with funerals and other important pastoral ministries within the church.

Who knew that his church ministry would lead to meeting the love of his life. In 1992, the Bishop appointed a seminary student to care for the parish while the parish priest was on summer vacation. Catherine Holland arrived on the scene on June 28th, 1992. It was a day when all the Anglican churches under Rev. Thurlow’s care came together at the Cereal Anglican church (by then an historical site) followed by a picnic at Ken and Madeline Nichol’s farm. It turned out to be the most embarrassing day of his (their) life. Dennis and Catherine locked eyes – and it was impossible for anyone not to notice. The romance began. Their first date was a rodeo.

               Dennis was not sure she would ever visit his farm a second time after his first invitation to cook her supper. The meal was simply wonderful. It was the momma mouse that appeared at the fridge just as they sat down to eat that put a look of panic into Dennis’ eyes. Phew! Catherine didn’t scream and run out the door. Over the next four years, her visits to the Oyen area were opportunities to visit the farm and learn how to drive a tractor, swather, and haul grain to the elevator. It became apparent that with a little (a lot of?) patience that city girl could be a partner in farming as well as church ministry. On February 29th , 1996, they formally announced their engagement. They were married July 20th 1996.

Dennis was an avid sports fan. His passion for sports came at a young age. As a youth he played hockey, baseball and high school curling. On the farm he carried his transistor radio wherever he went, gardening, cleaning grain bins to working in the field, listening to Calgary Stampeders football, Flames hockey, rodeo and current sporting events. With headphones plugged in he, on occasion, would listen to one sport on the radio while watching another on TV.

             He admitted himself that he did not have an athletic body. But he loved to watch and support not only professional sports but also the local athletes. He attended both Oyen Eagles hockey and baseball teams. He made an effort to get out and watch the baseball academy when he knew their schedule. His love for rodeo was fueled when his family spent many hours attending the local rodeos and the Calgary Stampede. He knew the names of all the players, cowboys and even the radio and TV announcers for every sport he followed. He was a walking sport encyclopedia. As one friend commented: “Dennis knew more about the cowboys and than they did of themselves”. The local athletes looked for him in the stands and appreciated his unwavering support.

             Dennis liked to travel in his younger years. He and Sylvia went to England in 1976. Dennis was in his element seeing the countryside, visiting lots of relatives and making new friends. These new friends came to the farm a few years later to visit. In 1979, while Sylvia was living in Australia, Dennis ventured over to visit his sister. They went on a camping trip with a busload of 50 people who were around the same age and from all over the world. Dennis made it his mission to get to know everyone on the bus. During that trip they went to New Zealand; toured both islands and met up with an old friend. In 1986 Dennis, Les, Laurie and Sylvia had a wonderful time together on a road trip to Expo 86 in Vancouver. Over the years, Dennis made many trips to Saskatchewan to take his mom to see relatives, attend weddings, funerals and other special celebrations.

             Dennis’ last trip to Saskatchewan was at the end of April this year. Dennis, Sylvia and Les went to celebrate a cousin’s birthday. He really enjoyed visiting his cousins and friends whom he hadn’t seen for some time. Dennis and Sylvia did a tour of the countryside revisiting where their grandparents and relatives had lived. Dennis and Sylvia travelled together and enjoyed the opportunity to reminisce about their lives.

It was Dennis’ dream to celebrate the Trevor farm centennial. He was aware that his grandfather established himself on the farm in 1921. In preparation for a 2021 celebration, Dennis set out to research the land title and obtain the appropriate centennial documents. Only to be disappointed that his grandfather did not complete the purchase of the farm and obtain the land title until 1929. At that point, Dennis wasn’t sure he wanted to farm until 2029. By 2020 he began gradually reducing the cattle herd until the last cow was sold for slaughter in July 2023. Over the past few years, he rented some crop land to neighbours but included an 80-acre plot of the original 1929 farm in his farming operations – a requirement to meet that centennial status.

            Dennis’ skills were very diversified. He could pull a calf, operate any and all farm equipment, build barns, grow a garden, make fudge, and peanut brittle as well as bake the best chocolate birthday cake. His face always lit up with his amazing smile when he received a compliment on his baking.

Dennis was a people person. He was always interested in what others were doing. He liked to poke a little fun at himself or the person he was talking to, which would usually end with a laugh – despite or because of his dry, almost undetectable sense of humour. He was genuinely interested in the accomplishments of his relatives, his friends, and their children. He was kind, gentle and always willing to lend a hand, even when he didn’t have time.

            Dennis was predeceased by his parents Ray (2009) and Doreen Trevor (2019).

           He is survived by his loving wife the Reverend Dr. Catherine Holland, sister Sylvia Trevor, and brother Leslie (Laurie) Trevor; his nieces and nephews Bronwyn Bush; Paul (great nephews Liam and Jackson), Cory and Michelle Trevor.

The recording is now available to view