Mr. Speaker, yesterday the people of Fort Providence gathered together to say goodbye to a well-known member of the community, Mr. Alistair Geddes, or Sandy as he was better known, who passed away unexpectedly last Friday.
Mr. Speaker, he was born, as he liked to put it, somewhere 60 miles north of Regina on November 9, 1930. He came north to Hay River in the ‘50s to work as a commercial fisherman and went on to work for NT and also BNR Construction. In the ‘70s, Mr. Geddes moved to Fort Providence to raise his family and to work in the building construction projects that were going on there. Mr. Speaker, I would venture to say that he was involved in some way in every construction project that was delivered in that community over the last 30 years. Even on his last day of life, Mr. Speaker, at 78 years old, he was out talking to businesses and companies about potential work.
Mr. Speaker, I also had the opportunity to personally work alongside Sandy for many years during the days of the Norman Wells Pipeline Project and I will remember him as a very strong, physically strong man, very intelligent person who could build anything that he put his hands on. He was very good at working with wood, cement, bricks. He could fix furnaces. He did plumbing and heavy equipment. He was truly a jack-of-all-trades. Sandy was very well-respected in the construction industry and by all those who knew him. He was a very head-strong person but was also, at the same, time very compassionate and committed to his family and his friends. He always kept us on our toes and really every time we saw him he always brought a smile to our face. Mr. Geddes will certainly leave a lasting legacy in our community. He did much to make our community what it is today by his attitude to hard work and setting a pace that others needed to follow.
Mr. Speaker, he is survived by his wife, Harriet, his daughter, Cheryl, his sons, Herbie and Jerry, and many grandchildren. I’d like to offer my condolences to all the members of his family. Thank you.
