Obituary for Doug Colbo
John Douglas Colbo (Doug) was born in Climax Saskatchewan to Leslie and Kate Colbo on May 29th 1929. Dad, and his brother Murray, were raised on the farm their father homesteaded in Climax in 1912. Dad often told stories of his younger years on the farm: tales of being chased by a pack of coyotes while skiing home from town in the dark; watching the barn roof fly off in a tornado and land in the field; cleaning the icehouse full of lizard and snakes; going to the train to buy firewood from BC to heat the house, lighting the fire in the Stone school before classes in the winter; grass fires raging across the prairies; and receiving barrels of salt fish provided by the fisherman of Nfld who had heard of the plight of the prairie farmers during the dirty 30’s. Dad learned to farm alongside his father who was also a schoolteacher. In 1947, they sold the farm in Saskatchewan and moved to a farm three miles west of Olds. Dad continued to help on the farm until 1952 when he decided to join the RCAF. This is where he developed his passion for flying. Although he never saw combat, he came close to being deployed to Korea, but the war ended before that happened. After being discharged from the air force, he worked for Pacific Western Aero Engineering in Edmonton, and in Vulcan as an aircraft engineer. He eventually moved to Lethbridge to work for the Airport Department of Transportation, Aviation Division. He met the love of his life, our mother Roberta Mary Ann Howe (Bert) in 1957, and they were married on November 15, 1958. They resided in Lethbridge until 1967 when, with 4 rambunctious children (Calvin, Shelly, Peggy and Cindy) they moved to Olds to be closer to his parents. Dawn joined the little brood in 1969. Dad began a new career working for Rangeland Pipeline (eventually British Petroleum) as a pipeline Analyst until his retirement in 2002. Dad loved flying, and had the opportunity to fly professionally however, Mom was deathly afraid he would crash and leave her a widow with five children, so even though he didn’t have his dream job at Rangeland, he was a conscientious and faithful employee, who worked hard to keep us all fed, clothed and a roof over our heads.
Although we didn’t have much, he loved camping and would often charge the gas for our BC summer vacations which, even though it would take up to a year to pay off, allowed us to have those precious holidays together in the summer. Later in life, he and Mom were able to travel to Alaska twice, Colorado, Washington, Idaho and Montana in their beloved camper van. They were able to fly to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to visit his brother Murray, his wife Dierdre and their family, and in 2006, got their one and only tropical vacation to Florida.
Dad loved geography and had an almost photographic memory of all the places he had travelled. He knew every highway, back road, rest stop, campground, bridge, river and lake between Manitoba and BC and down into the states where he and Mom had travelled. Anytime we were out on the road, we would call and talk. Whether driving to Bowden or out to BC, he’d visualize our route and follow along, giving us details of the trip as we drove. Then he’d say “you must be coming up to that overpass, or this town.. or you must be getting close to” whatever landmark he had in his head. He had an incredibly sharp memory! When macular degeneration took his sight, we would take him on drives around the country and by just telling him a landmark, he would tell us what was coming up next on the road, who lived where, and often a story would follow. Even when we drove him back to Saskatchewan and to BC in his later years, he could tell us with incredible detail what was around the next bend, which roads they had ventured on, scenic points, campgrounds, and museums he and Mom had visited.
Thankfully, Dad learned to use a computer while he was still working, so in his senior years while he could still see, he would spend hours Googling things and searching the world over on Google Earth. He marveled at the technology which allowed him to follow us on our travels, and envision on the computer exactly where we were, sometimes even finding our location on Street View. Before he lost his sight, mom bought him the Flight Simulator software for his computer and us kids pitched in to buy him rudder pedals, a yoke, and a flight panel that allowed his love of flying to become a reality once again. He was in seventh heaven! Often, we would stop by for a visit in the evenings and hear the roar of the propeller coming from his speakers out into the street as he was flying around the world landing in airports that he only dreamed of doing in real life. He also liked trains and loved the sound of the old steam engines. He would find videos on YouTube and crank up the sound to feel the rumble and chug chug of the locomotives. When he could still manage the keyboard, he’d stream You Tube videos of airplanes, trains and anything else he took an interest to for hours and late into the night.
When Mom and Dad volunteered for Citizens on Patrol in the 80’s, they purchased a police scanner to follow the police activity. The scanner also picked up air traffic chatter, so he would tune in to the pilot’s call letters as they flew over Olds and would listen for grandson Justin’s voice. He was thrilled when Justin got his pilots licence and even more thrilled when he gave him a ride in a little Cessna shortly after. His biggest highlight was when Justin flew him out to Golden to visit Shelly and Brian in a Cessna 310 twin prop in the fall of 2020. On the way home, Justin let him take over the controls, and at the age of 90 he was able feel the thrill of flying a plane once again.
After mom passed away, he looked forward to the 3:30 daily coffee time with Dawn and Peggy (and sometimes all us girls) at his house after work. He was blessed to have us all close by and rarely a day went by without a visit or a phone call from at least two or three of us, especially over the last 2 years with COVID not allowing seniors to get out much. He treasured these daily phone calls, usually answering with a “howdy”, and always ending with long goodbyes: “say hi to all, luv yas, love to hear from ya, keep me posted, bye, bye see ya sweetie, What we would give for the opportunity to call and hear those words again… but thankfully our goodbyes are not forever.
He lived a long, good life and although we will miss him terribly, we know he is once again united with Mom and free from his earthly struggles and pain. Dad will be lovingly remembered for his quiet, gentle demeanor, his devotion and love of our family, and his constant care and concern for each one of us.
Good bye Dad, say hi to mom. . see ya soon . . luv ya!
He leaves behind his brother Murray, five children; Calvin (Sylvianne) Colbo, Shelly (Brian) Markiwsky, Peggy (Lorne) Redekopp, Cindy (Robert) Unger, Dawn (Bruce) Smith, six grandchildren, Amber (Kevin), Justin(Samantha), Riley(Stephanie), Ryan, Carter and Clay, and great Grandson Hunter Douglas. He was predeceased by Bert in 2008.
Although we didn’t have much, he loved camping and would often charge the gas for our BC summer vacations which, even though it would take up to a year to pay off, allowed us to have those precious holidays together in the summer. Later in life, he and Mom were able to travel to Alaska twice, Colorado, Washington, Idaho and Montana in their beloved camper van. They were able to fly to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to visit his brother Murray, his wife Dierdre and their family, and in 2006, got their one and only tropical vacation to Florida.
Dad loved geography and had an almost photographic memory of all the places he had travelled. He knew every highway, back road, rest stop, campground, bridge, river and lake between Manitoba and BC and down into the states where he and Mom had travelled. Anytime we were out on the road, we would call and talk. Whether driving to Bowden or out to BC, he’d visualize our route and follow along, giving us details of the trip as we drove. Then he’d say “you must be coming up to that overpass, or this town.. or you must be getting close to” whatever landmark he had in his head. He had an incredibly sharp memory! When macular degeneration took his sight, we would take him on drives around the country and by just telling him a landmark, he would tell us what was coming up next on the road, who lived where, and often a story would follow. Even when we drove him back to Saskatchewan and to BC in his later years, he could tell us with incredible detail what was around the next bend, which roads they had ventured on, scenic points, campgrounds, and museums he and Mom had visited.
Thankfully, Dad learned to use a computer while he was still working, so in his senior years while he could still see, he would spend hours Googling things and searching the world over on Google Earth. He marveled at the technology which allowed him to follow us on our travels, and envision on the computer exactly where we were, sometimes even finding our location on Street View. Before he lost his sight, mom bought him the Flight Simulator software for his computer and us kids pitched in to buy him rudder pedals, a yoke, and a flight panel that allowed his love of flying to become a reality once again. He was in seventh heaven! Often, we would stop by for a visit in the evenings and hear the roar of the propeller coming from his speakers out into the street as he was flying around the world landing in airports that he only dreamed of doing in real life. He also liked trains and loved the sound of the old steam engines. He would find videos on YouTube and crank up the sound to feel the rumble and chug chug of the locomotives. When he could still manage the keyboard, he’d stream You Tube videos of airplanes, trains and anything else he took an interest to for hours and late into the night.
When Mom and Dad volunteered for Citizens on Patrol in the 80’s, they purchased a police scanner to follow the police activity. The scanner also picked up air traffic chatter, so he would tune in to the pilot’s call letters as they flew over Olds and would listen for grandson Justin’s voice. He was thrilled when Justin got his pilots licence and even more thrilled when he gave him a ride in a little Cessna shortly after. His biggest highlight was when Justin flew him out to Golden to visit Shelly and Brian in a Cessna 310 twin prop in the fall of 2020. On the way home, Justin let him take over the controls, and at the age of 90 he was able feel the thrill of flying a plane once again.
After mom passed away, he looked forward to the 3:30 daily coffee time with Dawn and Peggy (and sometimes all us girls) at his house after work. He was blessed to have us all close by and rarely a day went by without a visit or a phone call from at least two or three of us, especially over the last 2 years with COVID not allowing seniors to get out much. He treasured these daily phone calls, usually answering with a “howdy”, and always ending with long goodbyes: “say hi to all, luv yas, love to hear from ya, keep me posted, bye, bye see ya sweetie, What we would give for the opportunity to call and hear those words again… but thankfully our goodbyes are not forever.
He lived a long, good life and although we will miss him terribly, we know he is once again united with Mom and free from his earthly struggles and pain. Dad will be lovingly remembered for his quiet, gentle demeanor, his devotion and love of our family, and his constant care and concern for each one of us.
Good bye Dad, say hi to mom. . see ya soon . . luv ya!
He leaves behind his brother Murray, five children; Calvin (Sylvianne) Colbo, Shelly (Brian) Markiwsky, Peggy (Lorne) Redekopp, Cindy (Robert) Unger, Dawn (Bruce) Smith, six grandchildren, Amber (Kevin), Justin(Samantha), Riley(Stephanie), Ryan, Carter and Clay, and great Grandson Hunter Douglas. He was predeceased by Bert in 2008.