Obituary of Kenneth Joseph Lerat

<p><strong>June 15, 1943 &ndash; December 26, 2022</strong></p><p>Dear relatives and friends,</p><p>Ken was born on June 15, 1943 to Clifford and Harriet Lerat of Cowessess First Nation.&nbsp; Ken was the oldest child and had five siblings &ndash; Eunice, Audrey, Myra, Hugh, and Cecil.&nbsp; Ken attended school at both Cowessess Day School and Lebret Residential School.&nbsp;&nbsp; Ken had numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins that he grew up with and spent time with on Cowessess First Nation.&nbsp; As a youth, Ken asserted his dominance as the oldest brother by making his sister, Eunice carry his books to school, ha ha.&nbsp; Ken and his cousin Leona Acoose spent many happy days together riding around on &ldquo;Old Snap,&rdquo; the horse.&nbsp; He always felt a strong connection to Cowessess First Nation.&nbsp;</p><p>Ken married his high school sweetheart, Bernice Stonechild in Regina, Saskatchewan, and they were happily married for 58 years.&nbsp; Ken was a loving and dedicated husband, father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, friend, and co-worker.&nbsp; Ken was Bernice&rsquo;s soul mate, best friend, and love of her life.</p><p>After graduation from high school, Ken moved to Saskatoon where he took training to be an x-ray technician at St. Paul&rsquo;s Hospital.&nbsp; Ken had a long career in health care working as an x-ray technician for over 35 years at Grey Nuns Hospital in Regina, Balcarres Union Hospital, and St. Peter&rsquo;s Hospital in Melville until his retirement at around 55 years of age.&nbsp; Ken was amongst the first Indigenous health professionals in the province.&nbsp;</p><p>Ken was involved with the union CUPE for several years and got immense satisfaction from participating and representing the voice of his fellow colleagues.&nbsp; He was very committed to defending the rights of the union workers and advocated to make their work life better and improve work standards.&nbsp; Ken was President of his CUPE local for several years and was on the provincial bargaining committee.&nbsp; He was a board member for Parkland Regional College and the North Valley Health District.&nbsp;&nbsp; Through his work at the hospital, union and community, Ken got to know many people in Melville and area.</p><p>Ken and Bernice were blessed with three daughters &ndash; Angie (Randy), Jackie (Barry) and Kendra (Curtis/Jim); five grandchildren (Carter, Krystal Kyla, Tynan, Keanan); and one great grandchild (Kihew).&nbsp; Ken loved to take his daughters to family gatherings, barbeques, camping and fishing.&nbsp; We often went sliding down Lebret Hill at night sliding down on pieces of cardboard or trailing behind while Dad was driving the Skibee.&nbsp; When we went fishing Dad was too busy baiting our hooks and releasing snags to get much fishing done. We spend a lot of time, summer and winter, on Echo and Crooked Lake.&nbsp;&nbsp; We went on many vacations that involved camping in a tiny tent trailer all over Saskatchewan.&nbsp;</p><p>Ken&rsquo;s attitude was &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s get it done now!&rdquo;&nbsp; He was very organized and meticulous about keeping his home and yard in order.&nbsp; He enjoyed cutting the grass, planting a garden, and flowers.&nbsp; He also enjoyed having a place for everything and everything in its place, ranging from his garage to his home office.&nbsp;</p><p>Ken dabbled in woodwork creating night stands for home and building a fence for his yard.&nbsp; He was a do it yourself Mr. Fix it!&nbsp; He was handy except for plumbing work which could be and had been a disaster, ha!&nbsp; Whatever Bernice needed, Ken was there to ensure it was in place.</p><p>Ken was passionate about his family, and ensured he gave them the support they needed and that they were well cared for.&nbsp; For example, he taught Angie his oldest daughter how to start the 1974 Pinto with a hair brush handle in the carburetor and pour gas down there!&nbsp; One summer we went on a family camping trip to Squaw Rapids with Uncle Bud and Uncle Ron Whiteman and their families. Much to Kendra&rsquo;s reluctance, Ken poured a beer on Kendra&rsquo;s bee sting located on her butt to remedy the pain. She was so embarrassed!</p><p>Ken adored his grandchildren and great grandchild, and enjoyed spoiling them with treats.&nbsp; Krystal, his first grandchild travelled with Ken and Bernice to Big Valley Jamboree to see Billy Ray Cyrus to hear him sing Achy Breaky Heart.&nbsp; One of Krystal&rsquo;s first memories of Grandpa Ken was when he gave her a chocolate bunny at Easter.&nbsp; She was still in a high chair and grandpa had lots of hair.&nbsp; He always had chocolate to give her when she came over.&nbsp; Krystal has many memories of camping and golfing with Grandpa and Grandma at Green Spot Campground in the valley at Crooked Lake.&nbsp; Krystal loved to travel with her grandparents to Cowessess and on holidays through British Columbia and northern USA.&nbsp; She also has many memories of her grandpa and grandma visiting them in Prince Albert.&nbsp; Krystal wanted to share she we are very lucky to have so many special memories together.&nbsp; They liked to watch sports together and share meals.&nbsp; As stated by Krystal:&nbsp; &ldquo;Grandpa Ken always hugged me and told me how much he loved me.&nbsp; He prayed for our whole family every night.&nbsp; Grandpa was very loving towards his grandchildren because they lit up his heart.&nbsp; I will always remember grandpa&rsquo;s handsome smile and dimples.&nbsp; I love you grandpa, and I know you are still with us in spirit.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p><p>Ken used to pick up Carter, his grandson, from school for lunch and ensured he had a hot bowl of soup and sandwich.&nbsp; He was always slipping Carter $20 bills for gas for his sports car.&nbsp;</p><p>Kyla remembers travelling and going on adventures with Grandpa and enjoyed those times.&nbsp;</p><p>Ken always had a stash of Fruit Gushers and $5 bills for Tynan and Keanan when they came to visit.&nbsp;</p><p>When Kihew, his great grandchild came along in 2019, she became the apple of his eye, he loved her so much.&nbsp; They had a special bond and loved playing together.&nbsp; He was one of the few people she would let hug her!&nbsp;</p><p>Ken was very generous, and dedicated his life to his family.&nbsp; He had a heart of gold.&nbsp; He relished family visits such as barbeques and weiner roasts at the Melville Dam.&nbsp; Ken also loved hosting family meals and having a few social drinks with relatives and friends.&nbsp; In his younger days, he liked to dance, and play outdoor horseshoes.</p><p>Ken had a terrific sense of humor and loved to tell jokes and funny stories with people such as Bob Desnomie, Bunny Agecoutay and Bud Lerat.&nbsp; Ken in his younger years, hunted with his cousins for geese and ducks.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He had a hearty laugh and a huge smile.&nbsp; Ken enjoyed a party or two back in the day!&nbsp; He was known in certain circles as &ldquo;Kenny Travolta&rdquo; along with his partner in crime &ldquo;Bunny Swazye&rdquo; and Bob Desnomie where they would drink what Dad called Triple Dipple Sipples ha ha!</p><p>He enjoyed sipping on a glass of wine and lounging in his chair while watching the news and keeping up on current events.</p><p>Ken loved to travel with Bernice where they enjoyed many trips to Mesa, Arizona; British Columbia; Montana; and Hawaii.&nbsp; He also enjoyed family visits to Prince Albert.&nbsp; They enjoyed going for drives and sightseeing.&nbsp; Ken also loved to look at wildlife such as deer and birds.&nbsp; He liked take photos with his camera and journal their adventures on his computer.</p><p>In his younger years, Ken and Bernice would attend Big Valley Country Jamboree to listen to country musicians. Ken enjoyed listening to old style country and other general favorites such as Willie Nelson, George Strait, Charlie Pride, Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, and Ann Murray.</p><p>Ken was an avid sports fan and enjoyed watching football, hockey and golf either in person or television.&nbsp; When he lived in Balcarres, Ken briefly played recreational hockey.&nbsp; There was a game where Bill Warsey, the coach told Ken if he was too tired, to get the &ldquo;f***k&rdquo; off the ice, his dentures flying right out of his mouth!&nbsp; ha ha!</p><p>Ken was also an avid golfer with Bernice for most of his life, where they enjoyed trying different golf courses throughout Saskatchewan.</p><p>Over the years, Ken enjoyed buying jackets of all styles and getting a new vehicle every few years.&nbsp; He enjoyed going on drives to the valley to Marieval, Katepwa Lake, Fort Qu&rsquo;Appelle, Regina, and Lebret.</p><p>In the last couple of years, Ken relished making trips to Yorkton to Tim Horton&rsquo;s and to the Cowessess Gas Station for coffee. He wen to Independent Grocery to get his daily newspaper, small salad and bananas!&nbsp; Dad also loved to play games of Crib and Canasta, was very competitive, He was not above cheating to get a win!&nbsp; He had slippery fingers ha ha!&nbsp; Ken had a sweet tooth and enjoyed many desserts and candies.&nbsp; He lived life to the fullest.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Ken will be dearly missed by all that knew him.&nbsp; It is a void that will never be filled.&nbsp; Let us remember the fond and loving memories of Ken; as well as, his legacy.&nbsp; Ken instilled the value of family.&nbsp; He also taught us to have compassion and respect for everyone regardless of social status.&nbsp; Dr. Frangou, a long term friend and co-worker of Ken, described him as a good friend and someone who was kind to everyone.&nbsp;</p><p>Let us pray for Ken&rsquo;s spirit, and ensure he feels the love from all of us which will help in his transition to the spirit world.&nbsp;</p><p>Our family sends a huge thank you to medical staff and physicians that cared and gave medical attention when Dad was in and out of the hospital throughout the years.&nbsp; In Ken&rsquo;s last days, we are grateful for the respect, dignity, compassion and kindness demonstrated by the medical staff and physicians for the professional care that enabled a dignified and peaceful passing.&nbsp;</p><p>A special thank you to Father Denis for the spiritual care and support in Ken&rsquo;s last days and to Don Klus at Bailey&#39;s Funeral for his expert care.</p><p>Thank you for joining us in the celebration of Ken&rsquo;s life.</p>