Obituary of Allan David Coyle

Dawnna and the kids would like to extend an invitation to friends of Ali ’s to join us for a Celebration of a Life well-lived on Saturday, October 5 from 1 pm to 4 pm at Al’s Bullshit Ranch 8654 Pighin Rd Cranbrook B.C, culminating with a hike up the butte for anyone who is able and willing.

We would like everyone to remember Ali for who he was “back in the day”, we loved and really miss that great guy. We would appreciate any stories (even dumb ass ones) you have about Ali/Al/Ace as the Grandkids never really knew him, so it would be nice for them to get a glimpse of who he was. Please bring a written story to put into a Memory Box or email it to cmcoyle06@gmail.com.

Allan David Coyle was born on February 14, 1957 in Prince Rupert, BC to El & Doreen Coyle. Ali was the third of five children, with Joe, Gord, Jake & Deb. When he was two the family moved to Seton Portage to be closer to his Mom’s family, eventually moving onto the Durban Ranch. Ali and his brothers & sister had the best time growing up there - he learned how to ride horses & pigs (sold his first pig for his first bike), how to drive a tractor at six (into a fence - Joe being nine didn’t mention the brake), how to swim in Anderson & Seton lakes (once in March when his raft fell apart due to a bad build job), and was driving his mom’s Falcon around Seton by age 12. The family motto should have been “it’s only fun till someone breaks an arm or takes a pitchfork in the knee”.

Those five have some of the best childhood pranks/broken bones/crashed vehicles & just plain stupid -idea stories.

Entering grade eight, during the week Ali had to live at the dorm in Lillooet. The first day when the Matron told them to pick a roommate, Ali pointed at a red headed kid from Goldbridge and said “I’ll take him” - one of his best decisions as Dave Manahan would become his best friend for over 53 years. Ali excelled in high school, not academically, but with sports (he always credited Marie & Gail for doing his homework, so thanks for getting him that diploma). Ali played high school volleyball, basketball, soccer & baseball. Sometimes it would be months before he went home as he was playing tournaments on the weekends. During the summers he worked for Hydro and started his first business shoeing horses. This helped him to buy his first Ford truck at 16. After graduating in 1975 he spent the summer cowboying, “livin the dream” but the dream didn’t pay much so he went to work for the railway and learned how to run equipment. Eventually Ali followed his brothers to Elkford where he worked at Fording Coal as an equipment operator & trainer, later receiving his Lineman apprenticeship. Ali loved living in Elkford, from playing hockey on the “B” shift crew, snowmobiling with Tracy, Tom & the guys, golfing, curling & playing fastball on the “Hooters Shooters/Fishing Hole” teams with Blaine, Bub, & Joe in the Crowsnest League. He enjoyed the friendships, adventures and dumb ass things done with the boys - again there were lots of good stories!

One night at Sneaky’s bar, due to the romantic vibe or the mural of the dogs playing poker - Ali took a gamble and asked Dawnna out. They were married in 1982 then completed their family with Ashley, Courtney & Jace. During the infamous strike of May ’92, thinking it would only last six weeks (bad calculation) Ali went out to the Shuswap to build a cabin with the help of Jake, Dave, Bear, Blair, Tracy, Bruce & Simon. Once it was at lockup, he joined Bruce working for Arrow Installations, a small power line contractor in Cranbrook. In December he was offered a partnership and found the piece he always felt was missing. When he joined Arrow, it was the two partners, one employee & Ali. They had two service trucks, a boom truck & a bucket truck. Over 20 years he worked extremely hard to grow the company. In the beginning he worked away a lot, on weekends & stats, midnight callouts and one summer he had no vacation. Ali had no time for his own recreational pursuits as Arrow became his main focus. He enjoyed mentoring the young guys through their apprenticeships & working with the crews. Ali was the boss who would be up a pole at -30 in Greenhills and he never asked his guys to do anything he wasn’t willing to do. By 2012 Arrow had over 50 employees and a large fleet of equipment. Percy & Ali decided to retire and sell the company, it was a hard decision to make, but worrying about the safety of his guys was starting to wear on him. When he started his apprenticeship, at school he was told “if you last 30 years in this trade, retire as your luck will run out”. Ali lost a kidney after a 50-foot fall from a pole when he was an apprentice and later was working on a line that was hit by lightning. As hard as it was to transition into retirement, it was time.

And he hit retirement HARD - spent a year training on his mountain bike for the 2013 “Ride the Divide” bike race, was averaging 100 km a day loaded down and unsurprisingly was in great shape. He left from Banff with the destination being the Mexico border. Three days later he made it to the US border and had to pack it in - damn tendonitis in one leg. In 2014 - four days in - made it to Big Fork Montana - damn tendonitis in both legs! Ali enjoyed playing on a few “old timers” hockey teams, lots of hiking with his dogs, did a few kayak trips up north with Dave, an ocean trip with Wil & lots of biking on the trails with Jerry & Mark. A bit of travel to Scotland & England to watch Jace play hockey, he enjoyed hiking Kilimanjaro (didn’t break a sweat) & the safari on the Serengeti. He was not a fan of the four days of relaxation on Zanzibar. Ali did not do “relaxation”, he always had to be busy. He & Dawnna built their dream home on 77 acres, well Dawnna’s dream home with Ali all about his shop! He loved his “Bullshit Ranch”, there was always work to be done on the property and he brought in goats to deal with the weeds. Next thing we knew he was bottle feeding & birthing those ‘knotheads’! Ali was proof you can teach an old cowboy new tricks when he bought two unbroken Tennessee Walkers. Deb showed him the liberty method where you train & teach the horse, not break them. Ali was amazed at this different approach and how well it worked, he loved working with Crow, they had an incredible bond.

The thing Ali loved above all else was being a Dad. He taught all three how to drive a stick, change a tire & how to fix things (he should have taught Dawnna, but felt that was what he was there to do, that’s really biting her in the backside now!) The “Golden Years” were the ones when the kids were young - Ali loved the years hauling Courtney & Jace to all their basketball & hockey practices, games & tournaments. He was proud of how far they each went with their sport and the careers they chose after. Ali was impressed with the work ethic Ashley came into and & all she is capable of doing at their ranch. Ali enjoyed limited “down time” at the cabin , there always had to be a project to be done with Dave or Jake. He enjoyed scheming with Jake, there isn’t anything those two couldn’t build, fix, fabricate or rig up . Jake was also his co-creator & co-pilot of the infamous Elkford “Winternationals GT Races”. They spent a lot of time building their GT and the trophy, and yes, they wanted to win, but really it was all about sabotaging Simon so that he didn’t. We are glad that Ali retired at 55 so he had a few good years before 2018 when the changes in his personality began, and we slowly lost a wonderful Dad, Husband & Friend. He was formally diagnosed with FTD (Picks) in 2021.

Even as the disease progressed he was still active, riding, biking, hiking & skiing multiple times a day on a route he had up the butte across from the BSR. He hiked for the last time in May 2023, hours before he was admitted into care.

We would like to thank Deb Burt for coming out to ride with Ali, he really enjoyed the time you spent with him & Crow, you were one of his favourite people. Jerry & Mark for keeping their friendship going and coming out to bike & ski with Ali. Even as the disease progressed they were still able to get a laugh out of him. To all the family & friends who have lent support over the last few years we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you. We would also like to thank the wonderful staff at the Pines for the care they gave Ali in his last three months.

Ali leaves behind Dawnna, Ashley Armstrong (Clay, Lynlee & Carson) Courtney King (Chris, Macy, Nash & Kay) Jace (Kelsie, Jagger & Sutton) and his Honorary Kids; Claire Becker & Dana Hamilton. Brothers Joe, Gord & Jake (Val) and sister Deb and extended Coyle, Durban & Bishop families. He was predeceased by his parents El & Doreen and sister Lorraine.

At the Pearly Gates we know Ali will be greeting St Peter with ”Howdy!”