Neil Yeabsley, resident of Rycroft and Spirit River, passed away on Thursday, December 10, 2015 at Spirit River at the age of 85 years.

Neil will be greatly missed by our family and friends that have known him over these many years. A very shy kind man always willing to lend a hand. Neil worked on his father’s farm with his twin brother Roy and older brother Ken. Neil worked on the farm from the time that he was five years old. His father and mother owned West Calgary Dairy in Calgary Alberta. West Calgary Dairy was considered the finest dairy in Western Canada. Neil and his brother would show their prized Jersey cows on floats at the Calgary stampede. He won first prize many times over for the family’s Jersey Cows brought over from the Isle of Jersey. Neil eventually had prize winning Jersey cows on his own farm years later and was a successful farmer on his own.

Because of Neil’s shy quiet nature, he never did marry, but always wished that he had. He would try to take trips once a year in the summer to California to visit his family and to visit his twin brother who had moved down to the States 30 years ago. He loved to paint contemporary modern art. He did not sell his art, he gave it away as gifts. He surrounded himself with photos of family, and was really quite a family man.

Neil was very curious about history and was easy to laugh at a joke. He enjoyed his life and never had a bad word to say about anybody.

We will truly miss Neil. We loved him very much, it was hard not to love him. Never in my life have I ever met a person with such a pure heart.

Neil will be laid to rest on Monday, December 14, 2015 at Queen’s Park Cemetery in Calgary, Alberta.