Obituary of Ross McCracken

The Man From Battle Bend Andrew Ross Thomas McCracken was born in Hardisty, Alberta on September 5th, 1935. He passed away suddenly on December 5, 2016 at the U of A hospital in Edmonton of an aortic dissection. Ross was the oldest of two children born to Thomas and Ethel (Cameron) McCracken who farmed east of Battle Bend. Ross went to school at Dry Crossing, Science Hill, and high school in Sedgewick. He eventually completed his grade 12 diploma in Alliance while driving the school bus. When Ross was 17 years old his father had a heart attack which disabled him from continuing to farm so Ross took over the majority of the responsibility of the farm. In 1964 he married Corinne Black of Brownfield. His parents moved to Alliance shortly before he was married and he and Corinne moved into the log house. The log part of that house was moved into the Alliance Museum in 1988 where we were able to celebrate his 80th birthday last year. Brenda was born in 1965. She married Andrew Eberl of Claresholm in 1990. Their three daughters Kathryn, Rachael and Emily were their grandfather’s pride and joy. He collected all their report cards, 4-H speeches and newspaper clippings for his many scrapbooks. Dwayne was born in 1968. He married Carolyn (Collier) of Penhold in 2010 and was the 4th generation to live on the McCracken home place which has now been in the family 100 years, 1916-2016. Throughout the years, Ross worked hard on the farm and enjoyed many models of tractors and his cattle. He was a hard worker and dedicated his life to his work, his family and his faith. He enjoyed traveling with his camper and later trailer, seeing new places and spending time with extended family. In the 1970’s he purchased the Roy Korth place, renovated the house and moved in in 1979. Ross was involved with the Fairfield/Brownfield Baptist Church in numerous capacities. He was baptised there at the age of 20 and valued his faith and church family. In his later days he especially enjoyed his roll as “The Candy Man” for all the children. After 36 really good years together Corinne passed away Nov. 2000, succumbing to a 5 year battle with colon cancer. This necessitated Ross to learn how to use the washer, dryer, vacuum and even cook a full turkey dinner for a special occasion. During Corinne’s illness his nephew Brent and Connie Polege moved to the farm and worked there until 2013. As a widower, Ross enjoyed visiting many friends and showing them his scrapbooks and picture albums. He also joined the Alliance Museum board. In December 2009, he married Karin Stoner. They lived on the farm until November 2013 at which point in time Dwayne took over the farm. Ross continued to help on the farm when he was needed. Doing many large and small jobs he had always enjoyed. He and Karin moved to Alliance and he started to slow down and trips to the farm became less, but he was always just a phone call away. At 81 he was still walking fence lines and helped sort cattle up to 3 days before his passing. Ross is survived by his wife Karin and her family; one daughter Brenda (Andrew) Eberl of Claresholm; one son Dwayne (Carolyn) McCracken of Battle Bend; three grand daughters Kathryn, Rachael and Emily Eberl; one sister Donna Polege of Sedgewick; one uncle Andrew (Melba) Cameron of Camrose and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his first wife Corinne and his parents Tom and Ethel McCracken. His interment will be held at Battle Bend Cemetery. The funeral for Ross will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday December 14th, 2016 at the Brownfield Community Hall. Donations may be made in Ross’ memory to a charity of your choice. As we gather in this place today Our grief to share our respects to pay We remember a man gentle of spirit and word Strong of body and action and faith in the Lord A man who knew better how to work than to play Who when informed of a need would be there to help, same day His hard hat on crooked, his smile crooked too There to do what he could to make life easier for you The life of the party, center of attention he was not But quiet and steady of deed and of thought As a family we were blessed to always be sure That we could depend and count on him no matter where we were He’ll be missed of that there is no doubt It will be strange without him out and about But in some way he left his mark on all gathered here today With a hand, a visit, gift given freely or a prayer he prayed There is much to be to be learned from how he spent his days on this earth But most important of all is where he found his worth He was not a man to push his faith or many sermons to give He let you know what he believed by the way he lived Of his family, friends and farm, indeed there was pride While reassuring, that did him no good, the day his body died What gave him security and why we are reassured Is that we have surety his soul is with the Lord For many years ago when he was a young man The lord became real to him and showed him his plan And with this knowledge his life he did give So though his body died his spirit still lives So now there is no more sore feet or arthritic hands No drought, no hail, no disrupted plans He’ll be surrounded by choirs of angels, walking streets of gold Not walking fence lines in sweltering heat and feeding in bitter cold His journeys not over it has no end But every once in a while he’ll stop and take a look at how things are going, just east of the Battle Bend. Written By Dwayne McCracken