Thomas Alan Champion

On March 7, 2014, Thomas Alan Champion, ‘Dad’, ‘Poppa’, and ‘Sonny’, passed away peacefully of causes incidental to age at 87 years old. He has returned to his Heavenly Home but leaves to love and cherish all that he was and all that he did, his loving and devoted wife of 62 years, Jacqueline, his family Brian (Elaine), Randy (Jonelle), Susan (Don) Sommerfeldt, Jeff (Janice), Lenore (Mike) Stevens, and Ross (Denise), as well as 29 grandchildren and 32 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents Thomas and Eleanor (Wills), sister Shirley, brother Dennis and has a loving surviving brother, Terry. Poppa was born in Edmonton and lived his whole life a proud Edmontonian. He claimed a particular affinity for the Oliver neighbourhood and spoke fondly of the years spent on 103rd Avenue. As a young man, he became enamored with aviation and spent long hours at Blatchford Field watching planes land and take off. He soon enlisted to fly for the RCAF and had scarcely begun his flight training when World War II ended. But he had been forever smitten by the flying bug. He soon met and fell in love with Jacquie, his great life-long love and they married and embarked on the journey of raising a posterity that numbers in the dozens. Poppa provided for his family by working in the chemical business, but studied diligently to become qualified to excel in the banking and financing industry. He succeeded in rising through the ranks of the Alberta civil service, eventually becoming the Director of Administration for the Department of Agriculture and later working for the Surface Rights Board. Poppa loved and lived the gospel of Jesus Christ and served in many different capacities in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including as a bishop and a sealer in the Edmonton Alberta Temple. Poppa’s greatest legacy was his love for his family and his unique gift of reaching out to people. His sense of humour and his kind manner will endure with countless friends, co-workers, and even strangers, who marveled at this gentle man. Untold numbers have been made better people because of his touch. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 on Saturday, March 15, 2014 at the Bearspaw Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 1203 109 St. N.W. Edmonton, with Bishop Dustin Burbank conducting. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Missionary Fund of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also, please do as Poppa would and take your family for ice cream!

Thomas Alan Champion

July 11, 1926 - March 7, 2014