Stan MacLellan

Stanley Howard MacLellan passed away peacefully at the Northern Lights Manor on Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at the age of 93. He was born in Wadena, Saskatchewan on March 31, 1924 and first came to Flin Flon in 1937 with his mother, sister and brother to join his father and uncle. He worked for HBM&S until 1943 when he volunteered to be a paratrooper – he was told you can’t just join the paratroopers – you have to qualify, but he made the cut and joined 1st Canadian Parachute Battallion, Company B and was overseas for two years. He survived what many of his buddies didn’t also jumped over the River Rhine. He was wounded at the end of the war and a big regret was that he did not join his buddies to return to Canada, but came back instead on a ship for the wounded. He never spoke much of the war until the later years, although it changed him and the war was with him every day for the rest of his life. He liked this:

JUST A COMMON SOLDIER
(A Soldier Died Today)
By A. Lawrence Vaincourt

He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.

And tho’ sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we’ll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer, for a soldier died today.

He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won’t note his passing, though a soldier died today.

If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.

Stan went back to HBM&S after the war and worked as a miner until he left Flin Flon with his wife Ruby and worked in mines in Bancroft and Atkikokan, Ontario, Lynn Lake, Manitoba and then they flipped a coin to go east or west and it was west so they ended up in Merritt, BC where he worked at Craigmont Mine until it closed in 1982, when he retired. He and Ruby spent ten years fishing and camping in the Airstream in the hills around Merritt, coming back to Flin Flon in 2008 to be close to family. Stan was predeceased by his parents, Norman (1954) and Marian MacLellan (1982), his infant brother Russell (1927), his brother Gordon (1996) and his wife Ruby (1993). Stan is survived by his daughters – Beverly MacLellan of Saskatoon and Shirley (David) Fortier of Flin Flon, MB and their three sons, Douglas and Derek of Flin Flon and Daniel of Saskatoon. He is also survived by his sister Mabel Parshall of Flin Flon/Texas and nieces Anita Perchaluk of Dauphin and Diane Foley of Moose Jaw and their families.

There will be no service at Stan’s request, although if you wish, a donation to the Flin Flon/Creighton SPCA would be appreciated – he loved the Manor’s resident cats and the dogs that came to visit there. The family is very grateful for the care of the staff of the Northern Lights Manor. We have witnessed many acts of kindness – our community is lucky to have such a caring residence for our elders.

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