Obituary of Earl Banks

Earl is finally breathing freely after his battle with emphysema ended peacefully on Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at the young age of 75. Born in Winnipeg May 7, 1938, Earl spent his childhood in the St. James area, from time to time causing mischief with his siblings and friends. He married Heather Beattie in 1960, with the arrival of their first daughter, Donna, the following year. After the arrival of their next daughters, Deanna (1968) and Deborah (1970), the family moved to Regina in 1973. Earl liked to try many different things and as such, his work experience was vast. From delivering groceries, to photography, bartending, sales, waiter, tour bus director, night auditor, and security guard, he worked for the likes of Esso, Motorola, Hotel Saskatchewan, Waschuk Pipeline, and the Commissionaires. His true passion, however, was in music and acting. Earl played piano and trumpet, sang in choirs and Barbershop, and acted in plays and musical theatre, including a production of The Music Man in Winnipeg which he had great memories of. Other hobbies over the years included photography, tennis, and swimming. He loved food and cooking, as well as gardening. Earl took great pride in having a beautiful garden and lawn. Earl enjoyed dancing, doing his daily crossword puzzle from the paper and generally just being very social, usually being the life of the party (his laugh alone could cause a whole room to join him in laughing). His past few years were spent happily putzing about the south end of the city and going to exercise classes at the COPD Rehab Clinic. Predeceased by his wife Heather; infant son David;parents, Doris and Robert Banks; brothers, Bob, Cliff, Jimmy, and Donald, Earl is lovingly remembered by his daughters, Donna (John) Ollinger, Deanna (Bob) Miron, and Deborah Banks (Jason Sherwin); sister Doreen (Jack) Cardno; grandchildren, Andrea, Kristina, Jessica and Shawna Ollinger, and Lilly, Dylan and Isabella Miron; as well as many nephews, nieces, friends, and neighbours. Memorial Service will be held at Speers Funeral Chapel, 2136 College Avenue, Regina, SK on Saturday, November 30, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Earl may be made to the Canadian Lung Association of Saskatchewan, 1231 – 8th Street East, Saskatoon, SK, S7H 0S5 or the Canadian Wildlife Federation, 350 Michael Copeland Drive, Kanata, ON, K2M 2W1. To leave an online message of condolence, please visit www.speersfuneralchapel.com