Obituary of Rocky Eklund

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of William "Rocky" Eklund, a long-time resident of North Rolla, British Columbia, on Tuesday, November 22, 2022, at the age of 70 years.

William “Rocky” Eklund was born April 11, 1952, in Phillipsburg, Kansas, the second of 2 children to Marjorie Jean and Bertil Henry Eklund.

He leaves behind Becky his wife of 48 1/2 years; his children Colleen and her husband Matt George, Lee Eklund, and Gabrielle Roy. He was also the proud grandfather to Ashly Kraenzel and Ty George.

He graduated from Hartford High School in 1970 where he participated in football, basketball, and track.  Rocky then attended College of Emporia in the fall where he played on a football scholarship. He attended Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas where he met and married Becky Poovey on May 19, 1974, in the Christian Church in Oxford, Kansas, her home town. They fished off the coast of Padre Island National Seashore in Texas and collected seashells for their honeymoon, returning to the Eklund farm of many generations near Scranton, Kansas, to raise cattle, wheat, and soybeans.

They were blessed with the birth of a precious daughter, Colleen Jessica, in 1974. Rocky graduated with a Bachelor of General Studies from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, in 1979. He began his teaching career at Overbrook Middle School in 1980 where he taught math for 2 years.

The Call of the Peace brought Rocky & Becky to McTavish Road north of the Peace River in British Columbia, Canada, in 1981.  He raised cattle and was a grain farmer. At the same time, he taught math, science, and Grade 4 at Clearview Elementary Junior Secondary School. Later on, he taught at North Peace Secondary School.

Cindy & Randy Finlay, from Kansas, came to visit soon after Rocky & Becky came to Canada.

Cindy’s memories of ROCKY are:

                           R is for rough, rugged, and rejoicing pain free in heaven

                           O is for the outrageous plans they made, having fun together

                           C is for courageous

                           K is for krazy spelled k r a z y, ideas they always came up with when

                               they got together

                           Y is for yearning for the wide-open spaces in Canada.

They were blessed once again with the birth of a precious son, William Lee, in 1986. In 1995, they moved to the North Rolla farm on Road 213, after selling the farm on McTavish Road, and he became a full-time farmer. Rocky and Lee raised buffalo for a short time - fulfilling a dream of his. Several years later, as a dad/son grain farming team they worked together making farming decisions & growing into a very close relationship as their business grew into a very successful one. 

Rocky enjoyed family life as a very loving husband and father providing for his family in his successful farming and teaching career. He was an avid fisherman, hunter, snowmobiler, backpacker, camper, scuba diver, carpenter, & canoer. He shared and passed on his love for the outdoors with Becky, Colleen, Matt, Lee, Gabrielle, Ashly, Ty and many friends. His sense of humor and funny jokes were contagious.

He would want you to know that he not only enjoyed hunting big animals like moose, elk, deer, and big horn sheep in Canada, but in Kansas, he hunted rabbits with a bow in the summer.

Here are some stories Paul Lira from Kansas shared with Becky about the good ole days:

A year before we came to Canada, Rocky, rented canoes - out of the blue - from Pamona Lake. Rocky and his buddies, Mike Jones, Steve, and Paul Lira travelled to Thunder Bay to canoe. Rocky fell in love with Canada.

Two burlap bags were full of very large frogs, after Rocky and Paul’s late night frog hunt in Kansas. He even hunted frogs! The legs were as big as small chicken legs and very tasty to eat. They were too tired to clean them that night, so they put them in Becky & Rocky’s bathtub for the night.  Becky was not impressed.

For a college class project, he chose to trap, tag, and count how many cottontail rabbits in a square mile on the farm. Paul helped with this project, so every morning and every night they would check each trap, tag the little critter, and record another cottontail rabbit. So, in goes the gloved hand, around the rabbit to hold it to be tagged. In one trap, Rocky had a surprise….a squirrel attacked his hand and bit him. Rocky just laughed and laughed.

Rocky was an honest, positive person. He knew that God had a plan for him even before time began. He looked forward to heaven where there would be no more, pain, sorrow, tears, and an endless time of praising God, as he was reunited with loved ones.

He was predeceased by his mother, father, brother, aunts, uncles, & cousins.

Rocky wrote this on October 25, 2022:

My Commitment

“God I know that I am a sinner and I believe that your Son is Jesus Christ, who died for

my sake. I now turn from my sins forever and acknowledge that Jesus is my Lord and Savior.”

On November 22, 2022, in his home, he passed into heaven to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at 1:20 p.m. with his loving wife by his side.

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

A Celebration Of Life will be held at the Rolla Baptist Church, Rolla, British Columbia, Canada on Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 11:00am. Pastor David Epp will officiate. Interment will follow in the Rolla Cemetery, Rolla, British Columbia, Canada. 

For friends so wishing, donations may be made in memory of Rocky to the Rolla Baptist Church, Box 89, Rolla, British Columbia, Canada, V0C 2G0, or the charity of your choice. 

Very Respectfully, Reynars Funeral Home & Crematorium