Obituary of Howard Dalmain Brown

Howard Dalmain Brown Known as Dal Brown 1941 - 2013 Dal passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 24, 2013 in Dawson Creek, British Columbia at 71 years of age. He was born on September 28, 1941, Nipawin, Saskatchewan. A Funeral Service was held Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 2:00 pm at the Alliance Church, Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Dr. Michael Stark officiated. Dal grew up on a homestead in the Mossy Vale area, north of Nipawin, Saskatchewan. He was an only child. he rode to the nearest country school, a ten mile round trip each day. When he was thirteen, he left home to board in Nipawin and attend high school. It was there he met his future wife, Joan. As soon as he got a job after graduation with SaskPower, he called on her, and actually asked her to marry him on their first date. She agreed, and they have had nearly fifty-two happy years together. They bought farm land near Tisdale, and Debbie and Howard were soon added to the family. He decided to go to university and become a teacher, as a farm accident had disabled his ankle to some extent. Joan took further teacher training as well. With certificates in hand they first taught at La Crete, then Timber Bay in Saskatchewan. They went back to university for more training, but Dal ended up taking a job as quality control manager of the Nipawin canola plant. This lead him to a career in the plant at Lloydminster, as well as the plant at Sexsmith. Gillian was added to the family at Lloydminster. Shortly thereafter, he sold the Tisdale farm and bought land at Silver Valley, and later at Doe River. He started Paloverde Environmental, and began developing products based on canola by-products. He developed PaloSeal, a fluid loss product, PaloDrill, a drilling lubricant, and Turffix, an organic fertilizer. These products are all manufactured on the farm. Howard, Ty, and many of the grandkids help with the operation. In 2012 he finally had that perfect year for which all farmers wait: Good prices, good weather, good crop, straight combined by the middle of September, and #1 wheat! Dal will be missed by his wife Joan Brown, Children: Debra (Glenn) Harms, Howard (Kelly) Brown and Gillian (Tyson) Smith, Grandchildren: Jocelyn and Noah Buhr, Jennifer, Landon, Kenton and Colson Brown, Megan, Logan, Rhys, and Catriona Smith. Dal is pictured here with his parents, Howard and Betty, and his two grandmothers. Full Euolgy for Dal Brown EULOGY: HOWARD DALMAIN BROWN Howard Dalmain Brown was born on September 28 of 1941 in the Nipawin Regional Hospital. Dal grew up on a homestead in the Mossy Vale area, 40 miles northeast of Nipawin, Saskatchewan. He was the only child of Howard Richard Brown and Betty Brown, formerly Betty Bullivant. His mother grew a large garden, and was the local post-mistress, and his father was a homestead farmer who logged in the winter with horses. Dal rode a horse to the nearest country school, a ten mile round trip each day. He was occasionally shadowed by wolves, and encountered all sorts of animals like lynx on his horseback travels. He attended both the Mossy Vale, and the Reno Hill schools. When he was thirteen, he left home to board in Nipawin and attend high school. It was there he met his future wife, Joan Roulston. As soon as he got a job after graduation with the Saskatchewan Power Corporation, he called on her, and actually asked her to marry him on their first date. She agreed. They were married on April 22, 1961 at the Nipawin Apostolic Church. Together they have had nearly fifty-two happy years together. Dal's first job was working as a crane operator on the Squaw Rapids Dam project that resulted in the flooding of the valley where his father farmed, and the need to relocate the family farm to nearby Tisdale. Dal and Joan bought farm land near Tisdale, and Debbie and Howard were soon added to the family. Dal had a serious accident with a pull-type MM combine resulting in the loss of some of the use of his left ankle. He decided to go to the University of Regina and become a teacher. Joan took further teacher training as well. With certificates in hand they first taught at La Crete, Alberta, then Timber Bay, Saskatchewan. Dal and Joan went back to university for more training in 1970, but rather than returning to teaching, in 1972, Dal was encouraged by Don McTaggart to apply for a job as quality control manager of AGRA, the Nipawin canola plant. He was hired by a man who described himself as one of the two good men in oils and fats in Canada, John Ward, the man credited with developing and patenting soft margarine. While working in Nipawin, Dal was able to collaborate with Dr. Claire Youngs of the Canola Council of Canada, in Saskatoon in improving the processing of canola. During this time, Dal also developed a new rapid method of testing for erucic acid which became the industry standard test. While in Nipawin, Dal, Joan and their family attended the Emmanuel Baptist Church where he was baptized. Over the next few years, he served on management teams in canola plants at Lloydminster, Sexsmith and Red Deer. Gillian was added to the family at Lloydminster. At UOPL, Lloydminster, Dal did research with upgrading the protein of canola meal that took him to various places across the eastern seaboard of the United States, and again working on research with the Canola Council of Canada. In 1975, Dal left the Lloydminster plant, sold the Tisdale farm, and bought land together with his father at Silver Valley, Alberta, where he farmed, taught school and consulted to two canola plants. In Silver Valley, Dal became convinced of the need for Christian schools, and he joined other local Christians in the launching of a Christian School. Dal served as principal, and Joan taught. There were some years of bad crops, high interest rates and low commodity prices, so Dal bought a logging truck and began mountain log truck driving around Prince George and Stewart British Columbia with his cousin Bob Symonds. Here he learned the noble art of hanging tire chains, 3:00 AM runs into the log deck landings, and thundering across single lane logging bridges at 60 miles an hour. His love of trucks was then incurable. In 1987, Dal and Joan returned to teaching at a Christian school near Cremona. While principal there, Dal threw his hat into the ring as the Reform Party candidate for the Wildrose riding in the federal election of 1988. He worked with folks like Preston Manning and a young man named Stephen Harper. The new Reform Party did not elect any candidates that round, but Dal was the Reformer who came the closest to being elected that election. Following the election bid, Dal returned to university, this time the University of Calgary where he completed a Bachelor of Education with distinction, then entered the Master of Environmental Design program. Upon finishing this program, he returned to the canola crushing industry at NARP, Sexsmith, Alberta, as Research and Technical Development Manager. In 1995, Dal started his own company, Paloverde Environmental Ltd., that supplied a broad range of environmental services, including environmental audits, building roads, and reclaiming leases and pipelines. He continued to work on private research projects and began developing products based on canola by-products. He developed PaloSeal, a fluid loss product, Dalmain Drill, Dalmain Drill X L and PaloDrill, drilling mud lubricants, and Turffix, a line of natural fertilizers. Dal sold his farm in Silver Valley and bought a farm in East Doe River, Alberta. There he built a shop that became his new milling facility for some of the lines of products he had developed and patented. These products are all still being manufactured on the farm. While here, Dal also acted as an ombudsman for other farmers in environmental interventions and disputes with oil companies. Joan, Howard, Ty, Gill, and many of the grandkids work together in the family business and help with the blending, bagging, drumming, grinding, sewing, labelling, trucking, tracking, invoicing and production of the many company products. For the last four years, Dal again felt the pull of the open road and a growl of a diesel motor, this time a diesel pusher motor home pulling his jeep, looking for warm breezes and palm trees in and around Tampa Bay and Homestead Florida during the winter months. Joan manned the map, picked out the next stop, then bustled about in her rolling marble kitchen and prepared supper, often accompanied by egrets, alligators and a sunset over the warm Gulf waters. Farming is called a next year enterprise - maybe next year we will get the right amount of rain, a break with the bugs, a break with the spring rains, a break with the September monsoons, equipment that doesn't break and perhaps, decent commodity prices. In 2012, next year came. He finally had that perfect year for which all farmers wait: Good prices, good weather, good crop, straight combined dry by the middle of September, #1 wheat, and time to spare! This fall, Dal undertook a new adventure. With a desire to consolidate the fluid lubricant production in east central Alberta with the milling operations in the Peace, Dal again started hunting for land, close to markets, close to product ingredient sources and close to a major transportation corridor. He found the perfect spot in a river valley back in the land of the Roughriders, his province of birth. Dal purchased a farm south of Delmas, Saskatchewan where he was planning a new crop year, and the new production plant. After securing the new home for the family business, He sold the East Doe River farm and began laying plans for the big move. Instead, as the providence of God would have it, his next move was bigger and more permanent than expected. Howard Dalmain Brown was called to his eternal home in the wee hours of Sunday, February 24 at the age of three score and eleven.