Obituary of Walter Arthur Praud
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dad; grandfather; great grandfather; brother; uncle; and friend, Walter Arthur Praud on February 11th, 2023 at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.
Walter, also known as Wally, was born in St Hubert Saskatchewan to the late Remi and Mary Praud. He was the eldest brother to Raymond, Lloyd, Allen, Ginny, Liz, Shirley, Dick, Mary, Gus, Kenny, Kathy, David and Patty. After the passing of his Mother Mary at the age of ten, he went to work for his Uncles Gerard and Frank, working the fields with a team of horses and driving a 3-ton grain truck. When he turned 16, he enlisted in the Airforce, where he was trained in Instrumentation, Electronics, Survival Training, and was Chief of the Search and Rescue Crew.
It was while he was in North Bay that he met his bride to be, Doreen. They were married June 2, 1955. They had several postings and then to Cold Lake, Alberta. It was there that they bought their first house, two granaries joined together, a real handy man special. This forced him to learn how to be a handy man and jack of all trades. In 1971 he was discharged from the Airforce and moved to a homestead in Buick Creek, BC, where he farmed, logged and worked for numerous oil companies. In 1996 he retired and they moved to Alix, Alberta, so they both could be closer to their siblings.
Dad was a man of many talents, mostly learned out of necessity. He was always willing to lend a hand to anyone. In his retirement he helped several friends remodel their places. He was also a big tease, in his grade school years there was a girl that sat next to him that would always poke him with her pencil, so he brought his pet snake Squeaky to school inside his shirt and let the snake slither towards the girl, she screamed and never sat beside him again. He also had a pet white tail deer called Buck.
Dad enjoyed making furniture, trap shooting, hunting, fishing, going for coffee and shooting the bull around the table of knowledge at Amy's Café in Alix.
Wally is survived by two sons Jim and Brian (Lynn); two daughters Debbie (Rob) and Deanna (Jack); grandchildren Mark, Neil (Terri), Ann (Thom), Shawn, CJ (Selena), Shane (Jessica), Jessica (Aaron), Brandon (Ashleigh), Mitchell, Vashti (Patrick), Dallas, Connor, and Trevor (Trish) as well as being blessed with 17 great grandchildren. Walter was predeceased by his loving wife Doreen; as well as Hazel, Tony, Jack, Dan, and stepmothers Emily and Marg.
The family would like to thank everyone for their kind words and support. A memorial service to celebrate Wally’s life will be held in the summer. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to a charity of choice. Condolences to Walter’s family may be emailed to meaningful@telus.net. Please indicate “Praud” in the subject line.
Arrangements in care of
Meaningful Memorials Funeral Service
A locally owned cremation and funeral provider
serving Red Deer and all of Central Alberta
587-876-4944