November 25, 1949
- August 4, 2011
With great sadness we announce the passing of our husband, father and Deda after a brief illness. He passed at the Kelowna Hospice while in the arms of his wife, eldest daughter Sherry and cousin Janet. Born to Polly Saprikin (nee Loukianoff) and the late Harry Sr, Harry was raised in Glade, BC. He married his teenage sweetheart, Isabel Konkin who over 40 years of marriage proved to be a steadfast, loving wife judiciously obeying the vows “for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.”
Settling in Crescent Valley, Harry and Isabel raised 3 children; Sherry (Dean) Moon, Christina (Ray) Deacon, and Bradly Saprikin. Fond memories of their father include camping at Lost Ledge, fishing, mushroom picking, playing slo-pitch, hunting, hiking to their natural water spring, yearly firewood gathering, snowmobiling, faithfully watching Saturday Hockey Night in Canada, and the building of a deluxe chicken coop that proved to be the central building of a self-sufficient family farm. Harry enthusiastically cheered or coached his children’s sports teams and through providing exposure to hobbies relating to nature he formed a legacy that is being carried out in their adult lives. He lives on in Sherry’s beautiful smile and welcoming, mesmerizing green eyes, in Christina’s spiritedness, and in Brad’s quick whit and talent of bantering.
Harry was soft in places he needed to be, hard in areas that mattered and most importantly, crazy in love with his family. He was the proud Deda of 7 grandchildren. With Rachel he explored the world of cheeses and the beauty of thunder storms; With triplets William, Joshua and Mathew he taught checkers and the art of tinkering and provided them their first opportunity to shoot a pellet gun and ride an ATV; With Faith he met his bantering match and gave her the secret of how to make a “Deda sandwich” ensuring that the Cheez Whiz is spread to the very outermost of bread crust; In the short time with Austin and Dana he explored new technology and recognized the advantages of a videocam and Skype as a means to maintaining grandparent bonding through physical long distance and on one particular visit Deda created a giggle fit in Dana as they played with Deda’s cane.
As Harry was a humble man that never appreciated grand pomp and circumstance a grave side service will be held on Sunday September 4 @ 1130 at the Glade Cemetery. All wanting to support the family are most welcome to attend. The overwhelming support thus far has been touching and much appreciated. Cremation has taken place.
If you’re tired and thirsty, lift your eyes to Heaven;
there is freedom.
Harry’s Gone Fishin’!