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Our father, Douglas Howe, passed away on Thursday, January 15th, 2015, in his 82nd year, in St. Catharines, Ontario, due to complications following hip surgery. Although he came from a Scottish background, Dad was not the most frugal of people and he left us without any funeral pre-planning, final instructions (except some vague desires in his will and shared aloud with some of us over the years). Since Mom was always the planner and saver, Dad didn’t have to learn that role. However, Mom pre-deceased him by 16 years and so, as you may well imagine, Dad never left us much money to allay the associated costs of his final wishes.
Doug grew up in the Toronto area, spending the first three quarters of his life there, where he and his wife of 42 years, Joanne, raised us, his three kids. After retiring from a long career with Bell Canada (41 years), Mom and Dad relocated to St. Catharines in the Niagara region of Ontario to get away from the “big city”. Mom passed away in 1999, leaving Dad to live the final quarter of his life in St. Catharines.
We are just now beginning to find out how expensive a death can be. For example, an obituary in the local St. Catharines’ paper for one day was almost $465.00 and a severely shortened version in the Toronto Star for one day was practically the same amount. Then there are the costs of the Celebrations of Life services in both cities for friends and family to gather, share memories and stories, and find some closure.
Because we have to sell our father’s house to settle his mortgages and loans, there is very little working capital to settle the estate’s debts, let alone fulfill his final wish, which is to have his ashes scattered where Mom’s were scattered some 16 years ago. While we are trying to come up with creative ways to make these things happen for him, we still find ourselves in somewhat difficult circumstances financially.
As his children, we truly would love to honour our father’s final requests, however as things now stand, we do not have the money to do this. If you had wanted to help out in some small way or to make a donation in Doug’s honour, then maybe this might ring true for you, and to help us out like this at this time would be most appreciated. Anything you feel drawn to donate would be a blessing and a gift in his memory. Be assured that anything donated via this memorial page would only be used to fulfill Dad’s wishes. If, by chance, there is anything leftover, we will be making a donation to the two churches that are generously hosting his Celebrations of Life services in St. Catharines and Toronto.
Thank you for considering this request and for your generosity,
Morgen Dobson, Melanie and Diana Howe
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