Chester Carver

1936 ~ 2016

It is with the most profound of sadness that we announce the sudden, accidental passing at his residence in the RM of Lac du Bonnet on February 4^th, 2016 of our loving husband and caring brother, father, uncle, grandfather and great grandfather Chester Carver.  Left to mourn is the love of his life and his wife of almost 57 years, Dorothy Carver (Barker), four children Kelly Matsumura (Wayne), Paul Carver (Karren), Philip Carver (Christine) and Mark Carver (Traci) as well as their respective families and his many grandchildren in Nevada, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia.  Most recently, Chester was so proud of the birth of his first two great grandchildren in Las Vegas, NV and Coquitlam, BC.  Chester was pre-deceased by his parents Chester and Evelyn Carver (Barkhouse) as well as his sister Darlene, brother Dale, sister Debbie and brother Joseph.

Chester was born in Italy Cross, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia on July 16^th, 1936 to a father who was a farmer and a house wife mother.  He lived his younger years throughout the Annapolis Valley, attending various schools until he joined the Canadian Armed Forces in June, 1954.  After basic training in Petawawa, ON Chester was posted overseas to serve two years in Germany as part of the occupation force.

Arriving back to Canada and being posted to Winnipeg with the 2^nd RCHA in the spring of 1956, Chester met Dorothy Barker at the Salvation Army church.  The two soon fell in love and were married on February 14^th, 1959.

Kelly was born in September of 1960.  In 1963, along with Kelly and then approximately 6 month old Paul, the family returned to Germany for a further 2 ½ years.

Returning to Canada in the spring of 1966, Dorothy pregnant with Philip, Chester took his discharge from the CAF and joined the City of St. James Police Department.  While with the St. James Police Department, the family grew by one more with the addition of Mark.  In 1973 Chester left the police department and took a job as the senior investigator and trouble shooter for Duff Roblin (later Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba) with Metropolitan Security.

In the summer of 1976, Chester and Dorothy started their own company and named it Can West Investigations & Security.  From humble beginnings with only the two of them as employees, they grew the company through hard work and perseverance to a firm of 300+ employees.  In 1988 they sold the company to an Australian firm, bought a few acres of land along the Winnipeg River in the RM of Lac du Bonnet and built their retirement home, moving out “to the lake” in 1991.

The word “retirement” could not accurately describe our father since he only became busier with every passing year.  Chester maintained his involvement with the Lions Club and was elected President of the Lac du Bonnet chapter in 2000.  He was instrumental in the organization of countless Lac du Bonnet rodeos, Canada Day celebrations (now recognized to be the best in Manitoba) and other community events.  Chester sat on many boards and committees including the arena board, EMHAC, the Lac du Bonnet harbour committee and was a founding member of the Lac du Bonnet Food Bank.

In between all of these commitments, Chester and Dorothy found the time to explore the world.  They travelled extensively throughout Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Later in life, Chester began to pursue his life-long passion of writing.  His particular gift was with mystery fiction.  Chester was a man of meagre education, yet he was successfully able to publish four books “Mystery At Bird Lake”, “Murky Waters”, “Hidden Agenda” and, most recently, “The Woman Who Never Was”.  He also published his own memoirs, for family both present and future.

Chester’s life of public service continued until the very day of his passing when he went on his final patrol as the municipal by-law enforcement officer for the RM of Lac du Bonnet.  This was a role of which he was particularly proud and continued his life of public service and law enforcement from the age of 17 until he was 79.

Dad always had a story to tell, a prank to pull and a way to put a smile on someone’s face.  While every person has it within them the ability to do good things, our father epitomized an entire life of good deeds and of giving.  Everyone was better for having met or known him and, because of his actions, he left this world a much better place than he entered it.

Funeral Services will be Saturday February 13^th, 2016 at 1:00 PM at the Whiteshell Baptist Church in Seven Sisters, Manitoba.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Chester’s name be made to the Whiteshell Baptist Church.

We love you and will always miss you, dad.

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