Joseph Lacelle

LACELLE: Joseph "Joe" was born in Ponteix Hospital, the first of 14 children born to Ludovic and Clara Lacelle. He grew up in Cadillac, attending school there until he skipped Grade 8 and went to Gravelbourg to attend the French program at College Matthieu. He was there two years then left because it wasn't for him. He returned to Cadillac where he held a number of jobs along with helping on the family farm. On October 17, 1963 he married Lorraine Goddu and they moved to the ranch at Lac Pelletier. There they raised four children: Michelle (1964), Monique (1968), Carmen (1969) and Trampus (1978). He loved the ranch life, but it was tough, no phone, just a two-way radio and the only way to get out in the winter was with a Bombadier that he drove down the valley to Reidiger's where he kept his truck to drive to town. Thankfully he had brothers come stay at the ranch to help him out. In later years he began driving school bus which he did for many years, mostly enjoying coffee and swapping stories with the other drivers, forming lifelong friendships. He did the grocery shopping at the Neville Co-op and was probably the only man who would buy cases of feminine products for the houseful of women he had at home. He took quite a bit of ribbing about that! There were many adventures with the school bus unknown to the school division including chasing horses that didn't want to be caught and teaching Trampus how to burn a donut, causing a trip to replace a window! He was a great nickname person and some of the animals ended up with very politically incorrect names. A note came home from school when Michelle was talking about a certain all black horse at Kindergarten show and tell! Joe supported his kids' interests, including 4H when he willingly but not always happily hauled horses to events. Hockey was his big interest, cheering for the Montreal Canadiens all his life and playing with the Cadillac Cougars and his brothers. Teams around the league all knew about the Lacelle brothers! He coached and cheered on Trampus' teams from a very young age, usually with colourful language. He was proud when Trampus joined the Cougars and proudly wore his Cadillac Cougars fan jacket with Fan and Dad 2 embroidered on the sleeve. Trampus' stock car racing also brought out the competitive nature in him and resulted in colourful comments towards the officials from both him and his brother Marcel. The crowd around him seemed to enjoy it a lot more than his kids. Joe was very happy to welcome his children's spouses to the family beginning with Jody in 1988, Terry in 1992, Bob in 1995 and Lee-Ann in 2001. What made him even more happy was to welcome the grandchildren: Kylee in 1989, Cole in 1991, Dalton in 1993, Tyson in 1995, Ryan in 1997, Hillary in 2004 and Tyler in 2006. In 2005 he was especially happy to meet his granddaughter April whom Michelle had given up in adoption in 1983. It filled the hole in both his and Michelle's hearts. He was also able to meet his great grandsons which was very special. He had a telephone conversation with April just a couple weeks ago which we was proud to tell everybody about. He was also happy to welcome Bryan as Kylee's husband to the family when they were married in 2016. He was VERY proud of his grandchildren and they all have entertaining 'Papa' stories to tell, including the colourful adjectives! Joe hated cats but we joke about how he seemed to have the same number of lives as one. He was very hard on his body and had a number of near misses in his lifetime. Losing his eye caused him to give up driving school bus which he missed, mostly for the social part of it. We almost lost him when the large round bale fell on him, but he hadn't used up all his lives yet. He was a very loyal person and had many friends. You always knew where you stood with him, he wasn't shy about sharing his opinion. We read one comment online about how "Joe would never talk behind your back, he would say it to your face." That's just how he rolled. His kids and grandkids' friends were oftentimes scared of him but all tell stories of how he made them feel like family before long, teasing them like his own kids. The ranch and his cows were his life and he loved it, continuing to go there after Trampus took over. We are so glad he was able to go to visit the ranch one last time on Thanksgiving Monday. Trampus took him for a drive and he was able to 'inspect' the herd and the calf crop for this year. He was in his glory! All his kids were there for lunch and a good visit. It was awesome to be able to give him a hug which we hadn't been able to do for months. A special thank you to Monique and Carmen, his 'nurses' for all the assistance they have given to Dad, you are angels on earth. He always had entertaining stories, mixing up common sayings but always with lots of the colourful adjectives. One of his favorites was 'You'll never see a Brinks truck following a hearse.'  Well Dad, we'll make sure of that. Thankfully he is no longer struggling to breathe and Heaven has gained a new angel. REST IN PEACE Dad, Papa, Brother, Uncle, Friend. Joe's funeral service was held at Notre Dame d'Auvergne Roman Catholic Church in Ponteix and he will be interred at St. Anne's Cemetary at Lac Pelletier. Donation's to Joe's favorite charity Stars Air Ambulance 2640 Airport Road Regina, SK S4W 1A3 would be appreciated by the family. Lemieux  Funeral Home, Ponteix, SK were entrusted with the arrangements. For further information please call 306-625-3925 or visit our web site at www.lemieuxfuneralhome.com and express your sympathy to family members on the family tribute wall.

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