Gaenel Roland Blackmore

Gaenel Roland Blackmore, late of Ceylon, SK passed away peacefully on August 21, 2024 at the age of 88 years.

 Gaenel was predeceased by his parents, Leonard & Jean Blackmore; siblings (spouses), Helen Blackmore, Art Blackmore, Adela (Don) Malcolmson, Laurel (Elsie) Blackmore, Leona (Doug) McCutcheon; Bernice Lawrence (Arnold), Lois (Kyle) Lawrence, Stewart Blackmore, Harold Blackmore, Opal Walker (David), Ruth Fornari, Doris Lawrence (Lannon), Brother in law, Reynold Larson and his inlaws, Auguste Labelle and Irene Labelle.

He is survived by his wife Shirley: son Steven (Janice) and their children Tara-lee (Andy), Britney (Tyler) and Jolisa (Wes); son Brent (Tracy) and their children Brady (Chelsea), Riley (Rhett); great grandchildren: Danika, Teegahn, Sadie, Nixon, Dax, Harlo, Elliot, Sawyer, Saffron and Levi; his sisters Florence Start (Dale), Audrey Pelletier (George) and Glenda Larson; in laws, Elaine Blackmore, Marg Blackmore and Jack Fornari; as well as many nieces and nephews.

Gaenel was born April 22, 1936 at Ceylon, Saskatchewan and grew up on the family farm in the Big 4 School District south of Ceylon. He married Shirley LaBelle on November 11, 1957. They moved to their farm north of Ceylon in 1958 which became home base for their next 67 years of adventures.

Dad is an accomplished musician having played accordion since his early teens and also mastered the guitar, bass and banjo. He started playing in bands early in life and was joined by mom after they were married. Gaenel passed on his love for music to his sons who both played in the family band for a number of years.

Gaenel and Shirley did everything together in their life journey and you can't talk about what dad did during his life without including mom as well. They loved family and entertaining. You would not stop in for a visit without having a coffee, some cake or cookies and if it was close to meal time, you had to pull up a chair and join them as there was always enough. They both loved horses and raised purebred Arabians for a number of years. They were square dancers and travelled to events across the USA and Western Canada. They travelled with friends and family whenever there was an opportunity and particularly enjoyed attending their kids and grandkids and great grandkids special events and sporting activities. Staying at Grandpa and Grandmas house was a common event for all their grandkids for short and extended stays where they would get severely spoiled as they went on road trips, picnics in the Big Muddy, afternoons at the Ceylon Park pool or a quick trip to Radville for ice cream. Dad and mom were active farmers/ranchers into their 80's and after he no longer ran the equipment, he and mom delivered fuel, ran for parts and helped shuttle equipment to the various farms. They were active members of the Ceylon United Church and dad was also on the church board. You would always find Dad checking people in at United Church fall supper and Mom had likely cooked a turkey or 2 and a lot of pies for the annual event. In the 60's and 70's dad was a lineman for the north Ceylon telephone company and also ran the North Ceylon snowplow for a number of winters. Dad was a kind, patient and thoughtful man. His calming demeanour was greatly appreciated especially when working with the livestock and working on farm equipment that had a breakdown.

In 2008 they made their first extended winter trip to Arizona. They thrived in this new environment. They took their love of music to a new level, got re-acquainted with some old friends and made a ton of new friends. Mesa Dunes as it was known then, was the perfect retirement park for them and their new home again became a hub for entertaining and visiting. The east valley of Mesa has a number of senior parks that organized music jam sessions to which Dad, mom and their friends were regular participants as well as playing in a band called the Saskatchewan Stubble Jumpers which later became the Country Gold Band. We are fortunate to have many video recordings of their musical events.

A Service of Remembrance was held on Thursday, September 5, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. from Ceylon United Church, Ceylon, SK with Judy Beck officiating.  Luncheon followed at the Prairie Pride Community Centre, Ceylon, SK and interment was held at the Ceylon, Cemetery, Ceylon, SK.

For family and friends so wishing, charitable donations in memory of Gaenel may be made to the Ceylon United Church, Ceylon, SK, S0C 0T0.

For those wishing to attend virtually, please follow the live stream video by opening Gaenel’s memorial page on RD Family Funeral Chapel’s website starting at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, September 5, 2024.