Tribute

“A meadow lark sings and it is spring. And summer comes. A year is done. Another comes and it is done. Where spindling poplars lift their dusty leaves and wild sunflowers stare, the gravestones stand among the prairie grasses. Over them a rapt and endless silence lies. This soil is rich.”

– W.O. Mitchell

With heavy hearts, Brad’s family must announce his passing at Sunnybank Care Centre, Oliver, BC. after a courageous battle with cancer.

Brad was born March 3, 1954, in Neudorf, SK, the third child of Chris and Mary Ottenbreit.

Raised on a farm northwest of Grayson SK, Brad started his school years at Gelowitz School, a small one-room country schoolhouse, a place he always recounted fond memories of, until most of the country schools closed in 1964 and students were bused into nearby towns. Brad then attended Killaly School. When his parents moved off the farm into Grayson, SK, he attended Grayson School, followed by high school in Melville, SK.

After high school, Brad went to work in a logging camp in Northwest Ontario, eventually ending up in Mackenzie, B.C., where he continued to work in the logging industry and eventually bought a house. In 1979 Brad sold his house in Mackenzie and bought his farm, two miles east of Grayson. Shortly thereafter, Brad converted the old barn there into a place for barn dances. He named this barn, Barn 22 and it was a major source of entertainment for people in the surrounding area throughout the 1980s and 1990s. People would come from far and wide to see the bands that played there, to dance, to party and to meet new people and hang out with old friends.

Brad loved sports. Throughout the years he played fastball, broomball, slo-pitch and curled. He enjoyed watching hockey and football, and was a huge fan of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Brad spent a lot of time over the years living in British Columbia. Though proudly born and raised in Saskatchewan, Brad had a fondness for BC., living and working in the logging industry in Northern B.C. for many winters and eventually settling down in the Okanagan around Oliver.

Brad was predeceased by his mother, Mary, in 1968 and his father, Chris, in 2005.

Brad leaves plenty of people who love him behind on this earth: There is his wife, Kelly, who, though their time together was brief, he found his soulmate. There are his children from his first marriage including daughter, Alicia with her daughters Skyla, Gemma and Cassandra; son, Beau; and son, Shea (Chantel) with their children Kaden, Kali, Keenan, Kashton and Kirianna. There are his stepdaughters, from Kelly, including Chelsey (Kevin) with their son, Blake; Courtney (Wesley) with their sons, Mason and Shane; and Halley (Matthew) with her son Jacob. He also leaves his siblings, including his brothers, Eric (June) and Rodney (Doreen); and sister, Cheryl (Byron); as well as numerous nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.

Arrangements are by Nunes-Pottinger with cremation. Kelly will be bringing Brad’s ashes home to Saskatchewan for interment in Grayson, Saskatchewan, followed by a get-together at Barn 22. A celebration of life will be held at a later date, to be announced for his local friends to say good-bye.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Brad’s memory to www.braintumour.ca.

Condolences can be made at www.nunes-pottinger. com