Obituary of Michael David Strain

Born September 18th, 1945, died December 6th, 2012. Survived by loving family, wife Anne, two daughters Jo-Anne & Victoria, son-in-law Terry, his grandsons Tyson & Jake and his dog Buddy and numerous family and friends. A celebration of his life to follow. Condolences may be sent by following the links below. Mike was born in Vancouver to David Archibald Strain and Margaret Elizabeth Strain (nee Purkiss) and spent numerous summers going back and forth to Calgary on the train to visit family. As a result of these trips trains became a lifelong passion which he shared with his cousin Ted. Mike and Anne met in Manning Park through mutual friends Sid & Sharon and fell in love. They later moved to New Westminster and finally settled in Maple Ridge. They made a home and shared 27 years and finally married on October 13th of this year. Among the family and friends attending the wedding were his children Jo-Anne and Vicki, his grandson Jake (who was the ring bearer), cousins Ted, Florence and Susan from Calgary, Ken, Barb, Tim & Brittany, Darrel & Jamie, Helen and Ed & Susan Gifford (who stood up for them). Buddy, their dog, also attended and chewed all the socks throughout the ceremony. Because of Mike’s health the wedding was arranged in a short amount of time and many of their family and friends were unable to attend. Mike enjoyed watching his grandsons grow and loved to watch them play hockey and soccer. Special times with his boys where the Christmas train and Jamaican Days in Maple Ridge, afternoons at Harrison Lake, Stave Falls and numerous birthdays and special events. Mike was looking forward to teaching them to fly fish as they grew older. Mike remained close to his ex-wife Patricia Hutchison and her siblings, who considered Mike their brother as he was always there when they needed him. They were please to embrace Anne as another member of the family. His other interests were fishing and photography. Both of these interests consumed a good part of his spare time. In pursuing these interests Mike made many lifelong friends. Camping at Thanksgiving was a yearly event even if the boat never made it in the water, it was the fact that everyone was together. Mike and his fishing cronies had their annual fishing weekend which often turned into a weeklong event. For the last few trips Wally played chauffeur taking Mike to the lake. Even though the past few years he wasn’t able to make this trip he always held onto the hope that maybe this year he would be able to go. His fishing buddies will miss him. Mike took up photography early in his life and had a great teacher in Ed Gifford, who became a lifelong friend along with his wife Susan and their daughter Jennifer. Along the way Mike and some of his photography friends opened a photography studio in which they taught, showed the works of different photographers and had Friday night drop ins. How many of us spent many, many, many hours waiting for the perfect shot which was only supposed to take a few minutes. The family wishes to thank all the Doctors and nurses who attended Mike during his many stays in the hospital in Maple Ridge.