Tuesday, October 24, 2023
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Cliff Rose was a unique, very special person. Always kind, generous and outgoing, 5 years my senior, hence Protector and Companion. Younger years included lots of music, long walks or horseback rides with the Osbornes to Chatwood school over rough roads. Weekend hikes, sometimes with school friends, rowing across the Waterhen River, then fishing or the hike to Raspberry Lake through squadrons of mosquitos. Picking gallons of berries in the fall, sawing & splitting firewood in winter. Stranded at friends’ homes when the school bus route was blocked by snow; hiking home later over solid drifts too deep for the horse. Gassed with our friends in the schoolbus van with the leaky exhaust.
Later years saw sequential stretches at U. of S. and the Engineer’s Chorus, rare visits, him off to Europe with the RCAF as CF-100 navigator, married with a young family. A singular career serving with MOT and others, eastern Canada and overseas. Then a fitting return to buy Grandma Lund’s house in White Fox, to retirement, Cheryl, active community involvement, lots of camping, fishing, music, and new friends.
To me, he truly exemplified the Engineer’s motto (Thorough) and that of the RCAF (Per Ardua ad Astra*). I will think of him fondly every time I hear that Bob Dylan song “Restless Farewell”, only as performed by Joan Baez. Happy trails, Brother. Work on that diminished guitar chord and the pitching wedge.
*Through Adversity to the Stars
