Roger Octave Lizee, 1940-2008

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Roger Octave Lizee Aug. 26, 2008 in High Prairie at the age of 68 years. A beautiful life began July 29, 1940 when Roger was born in High Prairie. He was the seventh of 10 children born to Laura and Lucien Lizee. Right from the beginning he was always busy and mischievous with a grin on his face. Roger probably gave his babysitters, Guylaine Lizee and Florence Marx, most of their grey hair. He attended school in Grouard, Peace River, and McLennan. Being in Mission schools, he served at Mass so many times he figured he had enough church credits. That is why Father Tony and Father Abraham may not have seen him in the pews that often. Roger never had much interest in the subjects the nuns were teaching, but he enjoyed making his fellow students laugh. His sister, Yvonne, will tell the story of a time when the children were all standing up in class to tell the grade they received on an exam. Roger proudly stood up and announced his grade was goose egg! Roger was a hard worker when it came to mechanical work and he enjoyed learning from his father. After he had enough of school he started work on the family farm doing all kinds of heavy work such as picking rocks and roots. Roger, along with Boycie Jobin, Keith Stewart and Roger’s brother Harvey, spent one winter logging. It was supposed to have been a way to make some good money. Instead, it turned out to be an adventure in hard work and survival. The four men stayed in a small drafty shack and ate beans and macaroni to survive. They went into the bush with a pair of horses to help with the work. It turns out one of the horses must have known of the conditions they were expected to work under and went home! They were all probably very lucky to have survived and Roger never again wanted to go logging! He worked in High Prairie and learned more mechanical skills on both vehicles and heavy machinery. Roger went to work for his brother, Guy, in Dawson Creek in the 1950s. While in Dawson Creek he met and married his first wife and they had five children: Roger, Marcel, Jason, Dionne and Stacy. Roger loved his children very much. His family returned to High Prairie where he worked for various businesses. He achieved his journeyman ticket in September 1970 and later became a master mechanic. When the marriage dissolved and his children were taken away to British Columbia, Roger was devastated, until later years when he was reunited with all his children, which brought him great joy! In 1980 he started courting Rose and they married June 21, 1981. Rose had two children, Heather and Dan, and they also became Roger’s children. Roger and Rose unfortunately lost their own child, Olive, in 1982. Roger was doing work for others but wanted to be his own boss, so opened his own shop in 1983. Roger did not believe in waste and what someone else thought was trash he could find value in and fix it so others could also see its hidden beauty. Roger’s talents and ingenuity were endless. He loved mechanics, farming, hunting, fishing and enjoyed the outdoors. He loved people and animals and had many friends. It didn’t matter who you were, if you stopped by their farm, Roger always had time to stop for refreshments and a chat. Roger had a soft spot in his heart for children and they would either be taken for a ride or he taught them how to drive the lawn tractor themselves. Roger worked hard but he always found time to make friends with animals, so much so that Katz the dog would announce to lone and Frankie when Roger would pull into the yard. Roger was very patient with dogs and even taught his dogs PupPup and Bear to eat from a fork! Each dog would wait their turn to gently take a bite off the fork. Rose would make Roger a sandwich for his lunch and the next day, Rose would ask if he needed another sandwich, Roger would reply he still have a half a sandwich! Rose couldn’t understand how he could make a sandwich last so long because Roger would always share a part of his sandwich with the dogs! All of the dogs knew when his sandwich container came out they would get a corner of it. All the dogs learned to sit up straight and wait for their treat. One of them would bark or place a paw on Roger to remind him that he was there. Roger hosted a good number of birthday parties for his mother and all his family was welcome. But Rose always made sure that Roger and Joe were included as they were also July babies. Roger was cruelly stricken with cancer in 2007. While the treatments were not successful and only lessened the quality of his life, Roger faced his impending death with grace and dignity. On Aug. 26 at approximately 2 p.m. Roger quietly passed away with his loved ones by his side. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Today if he were here, Roger would be the first to say, “That this would be a good time for a safety break!” He leaves to mourn his passing: his devoted wife, Rose; his children Stacy (Sarah) Seabrook, Dionne (Troy) Nicklin, Jason (Laurel) Seabrook, Roger Lizee, Dan (Gail) Lama and Heather Lama; seven grandchildren; his siblings Guy Lizee, Joe (Carmelle) Lizee, Guylaine (Bill) Hood, Robert (Jackie) Lizee, Yvonne (Jim) Savi11, Denis (Linda) Lizee; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased: by his parents, Lucien and Laura Lizee; and siblings Andre Lizee, Harvey Lizee, and Monique Perry; and his children Marcel and Olive.

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