Arden Brock, resident of Grande Prairie, AB, formerly of High Level, AB, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 17, 2020, at Prairie Lake Seniors Community, at the age of 64 years.

Arden was the second of seven children of Jack and Joyce Brock. He was born January 3, 1956 in Lloydminster, SK. He and his siblings loved to keep their parents on their toes and get into mischief.

In La Crete, AB, he met and married Margaret. Together they raised three children: Jenny, Sheldon, and Daina in High Level.

While raising three rambunctious children, Arden successfully completed his Journeyman Millwright certificate. He worked in the forestry and oil and gas industries for many years in the High Level area. Arden started his own company, Brock Enterprises, with his son following in his footsteps. He worked hard and retired early to enjoy traveling with friends and his hobbies of golfing, camping, fishing, boating, and reading.

He will be sadly missed by his former spouse Margaret Brock; children: Jenny (David) Kay, Sheldon (Melissa) Brock, and Daina (Jamie) French; grandchildren: Heather, Cash, Savanna, Kaylee, Dreyden, Finley, Addison, and Owen; siblings: Dewey (Cheryl) Brock, Debbie (Bernard) Schellenberg, Shelly Peterson, Karen Blais, and Cathy (David) Graw; sister in-law Helen Brock; aunt and uncle Bruce and Mary Ann Brock; many nieces nephews and former in-laws; as well as many friends.

He was predeceased by his loving parents Jack and Joyce Brock, older brother Perry Brock, and nephew Quentin Brock.

The viewing will be held on Monday, July 20, 2020 at 3:00pm at Oliver’s Funeral Home in Grande Prairie (10005 107 Ave.).

The funeral will be held on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 2:00pm at Oliver’s Funeral Home.

Memorial donations may be made to a children’s sports charity of your choice.

**Due to technical difficulties, the sound on the webcast did not work until approximately 28 minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience. The Eulogy may be read below**

EULOGY

Good afternoon. On behalf of the family I welcome you here today, to celebrate the life of Arden William Brock. Arden was, a Grandpa, Dad, brother, nephew, uncle, cousin and friend.

My name is, Lorelee Brock, better known as Lori to my family, I am Arden’s first cousin. My Dad, Bruce Brock is my late Uncle Jack’s younger brother. I am honoured to be here today to share the Eulogy with you. I ask that you get comfy because one thing is certain…I am NOT going to rush this.

To celebrate means; to acknowledge with happiness, to rejoice, to be merry.

How do we celebrate when our memories might be tainted with; “what if’s”, sorrow, anger, disappointment or sadness?

Arden’s journey included a daily battle, a battle of addiction. Addiction is horrific!

It robs all of peace and harmony, steals love and happiness and it lies. This is a truth that affected his relationship with his former wife and friend Margaret, his children, Jenny, Sheldon and Daina, his grandchildren, his daughter-in-law, Melissa, son-in-laws, Jamie and JR, his siblings, his family, his friends. A reality. A truth. How then do we celebrate?

We celebrate with LOVE.

The one thing that was never changing was God’s love. God the Creator, God the Father loved Arden. Nothing Arden did changed His love for Him. He loved Arden. We loved Arden. We celebrate love.

Arden loved his grandchildren. Grandpa Arden loved you. He loved you immensely. He was proud of you. He loved you. Arden loved his children.

Arden loved his sister-in-law Hellen, brother Dewey and Cheryl, his sisters, Debbie and Bernard, Shelley and Randy, Karen, Cathy and Dave.

Arden loved to tease and so he acquired the nickname, Ardie or Ardie Fardie. He was the big brother that would take care of his siblings. Sometimes showing up when his sister Karen was 10, he would take her for a ride in his delivery truck. This was about a 4 hour round trip, her seat, a 5 gallon bucket. She didn’t care, because, she loved spending time with her big brother.

Memories of a big brother that was kind and caring always.

He loved his family.

He loved, US, family and friends!

We celebrate today with love.

Arden loved to laugh! He loved to tease, to share a good joke. We celebrate today, with laughter, as we remember.

There is no greater gift than love. Love is the greatest gift of all. Arden, your Grandpa, your Dad, your brother, your nephew, your uncle and our friend shared with us the greatest gift of all….LOVE.

With knowing this, on January 3, 1956, with love, Arden William Brock was brought into this world, to be loved, by his parents, Jack and Joyce Brock. Arden was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, becoming a little brother to Perry. Soon after he would become a big brother to; Dewey, Debbie, Shelley, Karen and Kathy.

The Brock family lived most of their childhood in La Crete, Alberta. He was very patient with his siblings but loved to tease them.

While living in La Crete, dad met Margaret Teichroeb at a party in the sandhills, whom he married a year and a half later on September 3, 1977. Due to a shortage of work in La Crete, they packed up and moved to Peace River where he found work as an engineer at Nowsco Well Service. They welcomed their first child, a cute button-nosed little girl they named Jenny Melissa on April 2, 1980. Shortly after, they moved to High Level where they were very proud to welcome their son Sheldon Lee on May 11, 1982. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. This brings their final child Daina Joy on February 25, 1986. Their family was now complete; Daina’s “pleasantness” as a baby made sure of that. The family relocated to Rainbow Lake for a year, where Arden coached a softball team, Margaret learned to drive school bus, and the family enjoyed many fishing trips together. With the support of his wife, Arden purchased a piece of land north of High Level, sight unseen at an auction, where they built their family home in 1990. On their acreage, they dabbled in cattle, horses, chickens, and oversized turkeys.

Arden spent four years completing his Journeyman Millwright apprenticeship through Petro-Canada. He would attend school at NAIT, in Edmonton for two months every year and would always bring back stuffies or movies for his kids when he returned. After several years, Arden began working in the sawmill and partook in the setup of the OSB mill in High Level. Arden went back into the oil & gas industry and then shortly after took the leap and started his own company in 2003 called Brock Enterprises as a contract maintenance for gas compression. Sheldon apprenticed under him and completed his Red Seal Journeyman Millwright certificate, and Arden taught Daina how to do the basic bookkeeping. He mentored three more young men who completed their Millwright certification with Brock Enterprises.

Arden loved travelling with his family. Together in 1991 they drove across Alberta in their big green booger machine (forest green Lincoln Continental) and crossed the border into Washington and Montana. While in Washington, they celebrated the 4^th of July watching fireworks over Moses Lake. They then travelled back up through the mountains into British Columbia where they toured Stanley Park, Bouchard Gardens, and took the ferry over to Vancouver Island and enjoyed the killer whale and seal shows at Marine Land. The theme music for the trip was such A-track tunes as “One-eyed One-horned Flying Purple People Eater” and “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-dot Bikini” and “the Yellow Submarine”. Camping and fishing were a favorite pastime for the family. Many hours were spent trolling the water in search of “the big one”. Jenny came the closet one year while fishing from shore. While casting, Jenny hooked a ‘lunker’ in her friends cheek. Dad and his brother-in-law had to play doctor and surgically remove the barb from her cheek. What a trooper! Although, she never came fishing with the Brock clan again.

Arden had a passion for sports. He sponsored several sporting events such as curling bonspiels, golf tournaments, and kids’ softball & hockey teams. He was a fan of the Edmonton Oilers and could be heard hootin’ and hollerin’ from downstairs when they scored a goal, or cursing if Calgary scored against them. Arden and Margaret attended the game where “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky scored his 500^th goal in 1986. He also had the pleasure of later attending an Oilers game with Sheldon by his side to cheer with him. To this day, he was still a strong Oilers fan at heart, even though his grandkids Heather and Cash tried their hardest to convert him to a Flamer. He ended up bowing down to the pressure and bought them each a Calgary Flames jersey; it almost killed him.

While living on the farm, Arden and Margaret had the pleasure of watching all three of their children graduate high school. His children’s education was very dear to his heart; he always pushed his kids to strive for excellence and always do their best with a little bit of extra encouragement. He also had the honour of walking both his daughters down the aisle and giving them away to their current husbands David and Jamie. He loved Sheldon’s wife Melissa and welcomed her into the family with open arms. He was fortunate enough to meet all eight of his grandchildren Heather, Cash, Savanna, Kaylee, Dreyden, Finley, Addison, and Owen. Many of his grandkids enjoyed boating and fishing with Grandpa at one time or another. He absolutely adored his grandbabies and wished he could do more with them.

Arden’s life was not all sunshine and rainbows. He battled and struggled with his inner demons for years, unbeknownst to many. He had many ups and downs in the later years of his life, where his family tried their best to support and encourage him. Even when it’s raining, the sunshine is still there. His family will always remember his bright smile and boisterous laugh, his goofy personality, his countless stubborn moments, his karaoke moments in the truck, him yelling down the stairs when his daughter was having a sleepover for them to go to bed, or scaring the crap out of her and her friend with a mask while they were watching a scary movie, making breakfast in bed for his wife and daughter, towing all the kids on an inner tube behind the skidoo, warming cold toes, sneaking his daughter onto a worksite to hunt for grouse, jumping out of his service truck to teach her to drive standard; sink or swim! When his hero cape peaked out and he saved his daughter from a falling hay bale, teaching his daughter how to change oil, fix brakes, and weld, him always being insistent he could fix anything with a crescent wrench and a hammer, he would bust his ass doing things the hard way while his son watched thinking ‘there has to be an easier way’, shooting the head off a muskrat right beside the house, dancing with his wife at weddings, his Nascar driving skills when we’d take family trips, reading a novel while he drove, dancing with his daughters at their weddings, teaching his son about responsibility with his 30-30 and .22. Arden lived by the motto ‘work hard, play hard’. This has been instilled in his children in many ways.

Arden’s friend, Margaret was by his side and supported him throughout the years. Margaret stood by his side through numerous ventures, journeys, ups and downs. Even after they parted their ways, she continued to support him from afar. The family continued to spend Christmas mornings and dinners, family gatherings, and countless meals together. Arden never stopped loving her, and his eyes would still light up when she would come visit him at the Lodge. She continues to support and encourage the family’s relationship with their Dad and Grandpa.

The family surprised Arden with a visit and photoshoot this past Father’s Day at the Lodge, and were fortunate enough to capture his beaming smile once again. He was such a good sport letting them put oversize glasses on him while they all made goofy faces for the camera. These photos will be forever cherished.

On the morning of Friday, July 17^th Arden took his last breath and passed peacefully in his sleep. He is now finally at peace and reunited with his Mom and Dad, Brother, and Nephew.

We know they’re up there right now, catching the big one and jamming around the fire.

Arden’s favorite chapters marked in his bible was Psalm 18.

“I love you, LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress

and my deliverer;

my GOD is my rock, in whom

I take refuge.

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Auntie Mary Ann and Uncle Bruce loved their nephew Arden. They were able to enjoy a short face time visit with him, undenounced to them it would be one of his last. This visit included smiles, a joke and laughter. Today with laughter, we remember the love. Auntie Mary Ann and Uncle Bruce found comfort in this poem. They send it today with love, hoping it brings you the same comfort and peace.

Footprints In The Sand

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand: one belonging
to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he
questioned the LORD about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me."
The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

Today we remember, ARDEN WILLIAM BROCK with love and laughter.

Kitatamhin.