Glen George Standen
Glen was born and raised in Kindersley, Saskatchewan. He lived with his family at 204-1st Ave. E. until moving into a new home that his father had built on 6th Ave. W. Glen graduated from McKenzie High in 1960 and worked as an automotive engine rebuilder for Bowman Bros. Ltd. He was transferred to the Rosetown branch in 1961.
In May of 1962 he married his high school sweetheart (Pat Cudmore). Their first daughter Glenna Crystal was born on October 19, 1962. The family moved back to Kindersley in 1964 to help Glen’s father with a coin laundry and dry- cleaning service.
Glen and Pat’s son James William (Jamie) was born Oct 6th, 1964.
Glen then began to operate the local ambulance service for the Kindersley Union Hospital (very part-time) and started helping Earl Joyce at the Kindersley Community Funeral Home part- time.
Glen also looked after the cemetery during that time. He entered the funeral business and worked in Weyburn from 1965- 1967 and then apprenticed as licensed funeral director at the Saskatoon Funeral Home (1967- 1971).
Their second daughter Judith (Jodi) Lynn was born on July 9th, 1971.
Glen went to work as head technician in the Dept. of Anatomy at the University of Saskatchewan Medical College (1971-1973). Following this, he managed three funeral homes, an ambulance service, and monument sales in Kindersley, Kerrobert and Eston, Saskatchewan until 1980. His next venture was a retail shoe store ( House of Shoes) with his “best friend”, Pat. During 1980-1985 he began working for Pioneer Life and recruited about fourteen agents throughout southwest Saskatchewan.
During this time, he was also actively involved in the Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, Town Council and served as the Mayor of Kindersley for a time.
Glen and Pat sold the shoe store and moved to Regina in 1985 as the Pioneer Life Insurance District Manager for southern Sask., recruiting and training a staff of approximately 70. Pioneer Life was sold to Crown Life in 1988 and all management positions were eliminated.
Finally, he was attracted to the hospitality industry and spent 22 years working in hotel management in Prince Rupert, Calgary and finally Kelowna, where he managed The Royal Anne Hotel and then the Okanagan Seasons Resort. Glen was actively involved as a Director and Vice President of the Kelowna Hotel Motel Association from 2005-2014.
Glen and Pat celebrated 47 years of marriage, in May 2009. They had three children, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Pat passed away July 24, 2009, following a short, but hard- fought battle with cancer, followed by another loss of their oldest daughter, Glenna, on February 3, 2011 at age 48.
Glen “retired” from the hotel business in 2014 when the Prehofer family sold the Okanagan Seasons Resort that he managed for them. After a month of golf in Yuma, Arizona, Glen returned to Kelowna and started working again for the Prehofer family as a Property Consultant. This was supposed to be a part- time job, but he soon found that looking after about nine different properties takes considerably more than part-time!
An old friend from Kindersley “waved” at him on Facebook. Glen and June Rousson hadn’t seen each other for about 35 years. June had lost her husband to cancer and was experiencing the loneliness of being a widow, as Glen was. He finally officially retired at age 79, in 2022!
An amazing connection resulted over the next 6 years, and they shared their lives together in Kelowna. June’s family became like his family over those years. Her children Dennis (Silvia), Donald, Randy (Lee-Anne), Michelle (Allan), and Cherie, along with her grandchildren, were a big part of their lives along with Jamie, Jodi and Tony Pietraroia and their family, and Glenna and Bill Struthers and their family. They were free to travel and visit them. June says her children, and grandchildren loved him like a Father and Grandpa.
Glen and June never expected this union could possibly happen, but they spent their days making each other happy, travelling to Arizona in the winters, June sewing all year round and Glen fulfilling his golf obsession all year round! Life was good after 9 years of loneliness!
He died suddenly in their home in Kelowna on Sept 10, 2024.
Memorial Service was held in Kelowna on Sept 15th and in Kindersley on Oct 4,2024.