Obituary of Philip Murray Creaser

June 24, 1953 – June 13, 2018

Philip passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, after a courageous fight with glioblastoma brain cancer. He will be so missed by his wife Valerie Paulson; two children, Ashley Creaser (Alfredo Young) and Ian Creaser (Emma Driedger); five grandchildren, Nicholas, Chloe, Emerit, Jaxon, and Burke; sister and brother-in-law Gloria and Eugene Ryan; nieces and nephew, Amy (Cory), Shayna (Josh), and Shawn (Ashley); many aunts and uncles; as well as many very close friends. Philip was predeceased by his parents, Betty and Stan Creaser. Philip received his designation as a Chartered Accountant in 1976 and worked for the Provincial Auditor for 30 years, followed by 10 years at KPMG. He enjoyed participating in various professional committees and organizations, plus community groups throughout his life most recently Oxford House and the Financial Management Institute.

Philip was a true Saskatchewanian, but also loved the mountains, winter (skiing) and summer (the annual back country hike). He was a lifelong learner and passionate about a wide variety activities, reading both fiction and nonfiction, travel, all sports, camping, playing Euchre, and cooking, which he shared with his family and wide circle of friends.

Philip was a founding board member of the Regina Children’s Festival and served as president for two years. A definite highlight was the opportunity to act as a chauffeur for Buffy Saint Marie for a couple of days who he found to be so warm and gracious at all times. He also taught Nancy Greene skiing for the Regina Alpine Ski team from 1990 – 2005 (five years longer than his own kids had left the program). He had so much fun teaching many young children how to ski which really was his favourite sport.

Our family and friends will so miss Philip’s incredible memory. He retained so many details of our life events, travels, and just a crazy array of information on many unrelated topics.

Philip was a wonderful parent and grandfather and was so grateful Ashley and Ian and grandkids all lived close by so he could be very involved in their lives. Many fun weekends were spent at our cottage swimming, fishing and especially tubing the grandkids for hours on Last Mountain Lake. Let’s just say Phil wasn’t a cautious captain of the pontoon which delighted the kids.

We were fortunate to have a long good-bye, which involved lots of laughter, reminiscing, many dinner parties, and “I love you’s”. Philip loved his weekly lunch trips with Ted and getting to “help” the Beans at the farm. Philip was so appreciative of the many friends, family and co-workers who came to visit him at the hospital and at home. He never lacked for company and loved every minute of his time with friends and family.

The family would like to thank the staff of Allan Blair Clinic and the Palliative home care staff, for the respect and compassionate care they showed Philip. A celebration of Phil’s life will be held at Speers Funeral Chapel, 2136 College Avenue, Regina, SK on Friday, June 22, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. Private family interment will be held later. In lieu of flowers, those wishing are asked to make donations to Hospitals of Regina Foundation in care of the Palliative Care Unit (3A), 225-1874 Scarth Street, Regina, SK S4P 4B3.