GEDCKE, Al

GEDCKE, Al November 16, 1931 – August 20, 2026 The circle of life is complete for Alfred Wilfred (Al) Gedcke. Al passed away in his sleep at the age of 94 in Duncan BC. Al was the only child of Wilfred and Ruth Gedcke. He was born in Kelvington, SK and was raised on a farm north of Kelvington by Nut Lake and went to school at Nut Lake School. Al was a storyteller and wrote many short stories along with drawings of his childhood in 2 booklets including many adventures on the farm from a very young age, with his dog Tiger always at his side. He had a trap line when he was 12 and collected enough furs by spring to buy a rifle. He was a practical joker and got into some mischief occasionally, taking after his dad in that regard. He also had a strong work ethic which he learned from his parents. He enjoyed the outdoors, hunting, fishing and berry picking with his parents. They worked hard together on the farm haying and were self-sufficient with a big garden, farm animals, chickens, turkeys, pigs, milk cows. Ruth did a lot of canning fruit and vegetables, made jam and preserved the fish and game they hunted. His father sold the farm in 1945, and they lived in a trailer he built spending the winter on Ruth’s family’s farm by Kindersley, SK, the Schultz family.
In 1945, they moved to Alberta, renting a farm east of Aldersyde from the Burdett family but drought and hail forced them to leave the farm. The land wasn’t as fertile as it was in Nut Lake. In 1946, the family moved to Aldersyde renovating an old house. Al’s dad never wasted anything and would often tear down old buildings using the lumber for renovating his house. Al started driving truck hauling gravel for many of the new gravel roads in the country from Okotoks south to Cardston. He hauled several loads of gravel for the Highway through Claresholm when it was built. There are pictures of the gravel trucks with the roof of the cab of the truck level with the sidewalks. Al bought a Harley with his hard-earned money and later a 1954 GMC 1/2-ton truck. Al’s parents moved to Longview in 1963, renovating a house with scavenged lumber that was originally 3 granaries combined.
In 1954, Al met his first wife Shirley Carmichael and they married on June 2, 1956 in Fort Macleod, AB and had 2 children, daughter Debbie in 1957 and son Rob in 1960. Al and his Dad built the house they would live in on 21st St in 1961. The front yard was planted with potatoes that first year until the next spring when he seeded grass. Al started his own trucking business operating Fort Macleod Transport hauling freight between Lethbridge and Fort Macleod in 1955. He maintained his trucks himself, a self-taught mechanic from life on the farm. Always the outdoorsman, Al took his young family camping, fishing water skiing, boating at every opportunity. Al taught many people, young and old, how to waterski over the years. Every available weekend was spent at a lake somewhere in southern AB, St Mary’s dam, Police Lake, Beaver Mines, Beauvais, Lee Lake, Waterton Lake, Keho Lake by Nobleford, Chain Lakes south of Longview where his parents also spent weekends with Al and family, also Little Bow Lake and occasionally after work during the week to Park Lake to ski and picnic for supper. Some of these lakes don’t allow speed over 5km and are mostly used for paddling. There was a “lake” in the 60’s across the Oldman River west of the bridge in Fort Macleod called Kedo Lake by locals. It was very small but Al would take the kids and his homemade boat and pull them on a homemade “surfboard” around and around. The first 2 weeks’ vacation in July were spent at Blaine Lake, Montana by Kalispell usually with friends and family joining them. He sold his trucking business in 1973 then worked for the Town of Fort Macleod for a short time. He enjoyed working Halloween night following behind and cleaning up after all the practical jokers, bales of hay in the streets, sometimes on fire. It reminded him of his antics in his childhood at Halloween! Sadly, Al made a life choice which eventually resulted in divorce from Shirley in February 1975.
Al then moved to the Crowsnest Pass and worked for Ubaldo Canderan logging is southwestern AB and southeastern BC. He was the first one at work starting the trucks for the other drivers in the winter and the first one at the landing to start the loader. He drove logging truck for a few years and then ran the loader and did maintenance on the trucks. He always said he enjoyed being his own boss and working outside. Except in the winter at -30C, his strong work ethic continued. Al married Judi Finley (nee Tolley) on Apr 26, 1975 and they lived in Judi’s mobile home in Hillcrest with Judi’s 3 young children. A few years later, they bought a house in Bellevue and attached the trailer to the house to make a bigger house for the family.
In 1985 they bought a lot at Moyie Shores Estates on Moyie Lake with Al’s daughter and son-in-law and spent the first few years camping on the lot on weekends. In 1990, Al and his son-in-law built an octagon log house together. A labor of love with lots of blood, sweat and tears! Al and Judi moved in permanently when the house was completed in 1991 and Al was finally able to retire. Sort of! He had a garden at the lake with a high fence to keep the deer out. He also was able to spend favorite pastimes reading and painting. Al always had a dog in his life and a few cats. Not one to sit for long, Al became the custodian of the estates, keeping the beaches and bathrooms clean and mowed the grass along the road in the estate. The house was heated with a woodstove so stocking the wood pile was a full-time job! There were many happy times spent at the lake with family and friends fishing, boating, swimming, waterskiing, campfires always with a lot of storytelling by Al!
In 2004, Al and Judi decided to move to Cowichan Bay on the Island because there was a new development at the west end of Moyie lake with a marina. The lake became busy and noisy and there was a lot of garbage washing up on the beach. Worst of all was the vandalism that happened, the mower and gas was stolen from the shed Al used and stolen quads and tools and chain saws from cabins that were empty most of the year. The climate was more favorable for Al on the Island, easier on his arthritis. Al and Judi lived separately from 2011. Al moved to his daughter’s house in AB for a year and a half but the winter was too cold and windy and hard on his arthritis so he moved back to the Island to Duncan in 2012 to the same apartment building Judi was living in. In 2019, Al moved into Duncan Manor because of mobility issues and enjoyed living there and appreciated the care he received and the friends he made there. He resided in Long Term Care until his passing.
Judi had returned to the LDS church, when they still lived in the Pass, after several years absent and Al eventually joined the church as well. Judi and Al both completed their family history which was a big undertaking. Al didn’t know much about his parent’s history because like many of that generation, they didn’t talk about their past. So that in 2 generations, all is lost of the memory of family in such a short time. Al often said that he didn’t think he’d live as long as he did but it was a life well lived with family and many friends from the LDS church and Manor in his final years, always enjoying the outdoors and the beauty of the Island. He was a kind and gentle man.
Al is survived by daughter Debbie (Ed) Pickens and their son Gabriel, Claresholm, AB, son Rob Gedcke, Lethbridge, AB and his children, Justin (Nakita) Gedcke, Fort Macleod, AB, Cameron (Ashlyn) Gedcke, Red Deer, AB, Shellaine Gedcke and her children Landon and Hunter, Stepsons: Kent (Michael) Finley, Duncan, BC, Bryce Finley, BC and his children Magnus, Trygve, Ole, Leo and Nick and grandchildren Paige and Graydon Fike.
Al was predeceased by his parents Ruth (1984) and Wilfred (1985) Gedcke, infant grandson Cory Pickens (1990), stepdaughter Christina (Finley) Fike (2021), ex step daughter-in-law Elke Finley (2024) and wife Judi in July (2025).
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