Obituary of Shea De Jong

Shea De Jong, resident of Dawson Creek, passed away September 27, 2019 at the age of 27. A Celebration of Life was held on Saturday, October 5, 2019 at 2:00pm at 49 Vic Turner Airport Road, Dawson Creek, BC. Expressions of sympathy may be made by donation to the South Peace SPCA, 637 - 114 Avenue, Dawson Creek, British Columbia V1G 3A1. Eulogy Shea Riley De Jong was born in Dawson Creek, BC on March 7, 1992 to Roddy and Heather De Jong. He was their third child and a younger brother to Darian and Jordyn. Darian and Shea did all the things little boys do from skateboarding to playing outside in the back yard. He was Jordyn's protector and was always running interference for her. She remembers the two of them waking up early to sneak and watch tv when they weren't supposed to. Shea was definitely the typical baby of the family who to his older siblings seemed to get away with everything. As a boy, Beauty and the Beast was his favorite movie. Shea and his mom watched musicals and enjoyed cooking together. He didn't care what the other kids thought. Shea grew up with cousins that he loved to play with and get into mischief with. Teagan and Tiffany were Shea's cousins and all three were born the same year. Teagan and Shea enjoyed riding their bikes and running amuck in the neighborhood. Shea and Tiffany had a special relationship. They were like brother and sister with Tiffany bossing Shea around and Shea gladly doing whatever she asked. They would build trails through the bush, play hockey on the pond, and ride bikes in the rain. Brody, Robyn and Matthew were Shea's younger cousins. Shea was an awesome big cousin. He would spend time with the younger kids playing or teaching them songs on the guitar. The younger kids would follow Shea around, they adored him. Shea's dad introduced him to his love of dirt bikes. His Dad would take Shea and Darian out to the track and spend hours riding and grooming the track. Shea always tried to get his ride in first because if Darian got on the bike he was sure to break it. Shea loved the sport and the thrill of the ride. Shea developed many close friendships through motocross racing, many which lasted into his adulthood. Music was a passion that his Dad also shared with Shea. Rod, Darian, Shea and Teagan would spend hours in the basement jamming on the guitars. Heather eventually banned Smoke on the Water as she just couldn't handle listening to that opening riff one more time. Shea loved singing and playing with his grandma Linda whenever they got the chance to sit around the campfire or in the basement of grandma and grandpa's house. He would belt out the oldies like "Sing me Back Home" by Merle Haggard and "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash. At home he listened to everything from Taylor Swift to heavy metal he was forever adding to his playlist. Shea met Kayleigh in July 2011 while they working at Mr. Mikes and Sola's Restaurants. They bonded over adventuring, dirt biking and snowboarding. Shea quickly became part of Kayleigh's family. He was her everything and she was his. They bought their first home in Pouce Coupe in 2015. They were engaged one year later and married July 22, 2017. They moved out to the farm in June 2017, where they had many adventures and made many special memories. They were best friends, and planned on forever together. A dream of Shea's was to start his own buisness. That dream was realized when Butter Trucking was established in 2018 with his first Hydrovac Truck. He worked extremely hard, developing new client relationships and a second truck was added a short 10 months later. Through the business many great friendships were formed. Shea put his heart and soul into his business and settled for nothing but perfection. His business was thriving and continuing to grow with great things to come. The outdoors was Shea's stomping grounds. He lived for adventure. He loved everything from finding secluded lakes and rivers, hiking, snowboarding and just exploring anything he could think of. He loved everything about hunting and guns from the time he was little. He would walk out back of his place and explore the land he called his own. He had just recently taken up salmon fishing with his father-in-law Wain. The two had planned to head back to the island next week for a fishing trip, which came as news to Val who hadn't been told about this yet. Family was important to Shea. He would call up Grandma and Grandpa De Jong for a hot dog roast or to join them for Chinese food. Shea and Kayleigh would spend hours with her grandparent's Andy and Sharon, sipping Whiskey tea and playing cards until bed. His nieces and nephews couldn't wait for Uncle Butter to walk through the door so they could jump all over him and head outside for a new adventure. Almost as important as his family were his friends. Shea couldn't wait to get home from work to meet up with some friends for drinks and good times. Shea was always checking in on his buddies or planning what kind of trouble they could get into. His favorite thing to do was to make them laugh, whether it was appropriate or not. Shea made a lasting impression with everyone he met. He lived to make everyone happy and see them smile. He had large goals and never backed down. No adventure was ever too big. He was the type of person no one will ever forget and will be dearly missed by all who knew him. Service 2:00 pm Saturday, October 5, 2019 49 Vic Turner Airport Road DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia, Canada