In Loving Memory of
David Stuart Seymour

of Grovedale, Alberta
March 10, 1945 - January 31, 2023

We are sad to announce that David Seymour, long-time resident of Grovedale, AB passed away in Grande Prairie Regional Hospital on Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at the age of 77 years.

David was born on March 10, 1945, in Fredericton, New Brunswick and grew up on his family’s dairy farm in Estey’s Bridge with parents Stuart and Eliza, and sister Judith. Although there was much work to do with milking cows, cutting and baling hay, and other routine chores, David spent much of his spare time as a boy exploring the forests, creeks and meadows on his family land, developing a love of the outdoors he’d carry for the rest of his life.

He attended the University of New Brunswick and graduated in 1969 with a degree in Forestry. His first job after graduation brought him west to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan where he worked in the woodlands with a pulp and paper company.  It was in Prince Albert where he met the love of his life, Patricia Mills, on a blind date at a local baseball game. David and Pat were married in September 1970. They started out living in a house in Prince Albert but then moved to a logging camp about 200 km north of the town. Their first son, Scott, was born in 1972. 

In 1974, the family moved to Grande Prairie for David’s new job with Procter and Gamble, settling into a home in the South Patterson neighbourhood. David was a manager in the woodlands south of Grande Prairie, working with a cast of characters whom he never forgot. Over the years, he developed a photographic memory of the good places to find Christmas trees, as well as the logging roads and “goat-trails” he’d use to get to them.

In 1975, his family got bigger with the arrival of son Michael. Two years later, the family moved out to an acreage in Grovedale, where the family enjoyed a wonderful life with many other young families in the area. He and Pat definitely picked the right place to raise a family.

Over the years, David would serve as an assistant coach on his sons’ minor hockey teams and was a member of the Grande Prairie Logging Sports Association, which organized competitions during the County of Grande Prairie’s annual fair each August. Meanwhile, his career with P&G not only took him into the woodlands of Alberta, but also to forests in B.C., eastern Canada, and the United States to view heavy equipment to purchase. He loved those trips and the camaraderie he developed with co-workers he travelled with.

When Weyerhaeuser Canada bought P&G in the mid-1990s, David’s career moved to the mill site south of Grande Prairie where he managed several large maintenance projects, the mill’s annual shutdown, the company’s fleet, and became a pancake-flipper-extraordinaire at United Way charity events. He retired in 2016 after 42 years.

He and Pat kept strong connections to David’s relatives down east. The family took trips to visit David’s parents and relatives in N.B., pretty much every other summer through the 1980s and early 1990s, and his parents and sister often came for visits in the summers in between.

David's retirement years were spent on the acreage in Grovedale where he helped look after his grandchildren, tended to his massive garden and lawns, and cheered on his beloved Edmonton Oilers.

David was predeceased by his parents, Stuart and Eliza, and his parents-in-law Bill and Elva.

He will be dearly missed by his wife Patricia; sons: Scott (Kjariene) and Michael; grandchildren: Zane, Minmi, Eowyn, Ean, Matthew, and Gabriel; sister Judith and numerous relatives in New Brunswick and the Maritimes.

A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 2:00 pm at the Grovedale Hall. Dress code is casual. Please feel free to wear a jersey from your favourite hockey team. The service will be recorded and available for viewing on the internet after its completion. For details, including login information, please email scottseymour7@gmail.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider making a donation in his memory to one of the following charities: Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation (11205 110 St., Grande Prairie, AB, T8V 4B1, www.gphospitalfoundation.ca); Heart and Stroke of Alberta (100-119 14 Street NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1Z6, www.heartandstroke.ca), or the Kidney Foundation of Canada's Alberta chapter (202, 11227 Jasper Ave., Edmonton Alberta T5K 0L5, www.kidney.ca).