Ian Burnett

1932 - 2016

John “Ian” Shepherd Burnett, beloved husband of the late Helen Burnett, passed away peacefully in Taber with his family at his bedside on Saturday, August 27, 2016 at the age of 84 years.

  A Celebration of Ian’s life was held at the Delburne Community Hall, 2034 - 21 Avenue, Delburne on Saturday, September 10, 2016 between 2:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. A private burial service was held at the Delburne Cemetery. 

 Ian is survived by his three daughters Sandy (Jerry) Riggins of Erskine and their children Clint (Lorilee) Riggins (their children Dane and Nixon), Angie Riggins (her daughter Venice) and Danny (Dana) Riggins (their daughter Bria); Donna (Charlie) Nichols of Taber and their children Tammy (Scott) Jensen (their children Jayden, Jordyn, Tristin and Eric), Stacy (Dale Setoguchi) McClelland (her children Jocelyn and Cody) and Christine (Jeremy) West (their children Emma and Megan); Karen Foss of Edmonton and her children Chelsey and Melissa Foss. He is also survived by his brother Bob (Phyllis) Burnett, sisters-in-law Daisy Burnett, Betty Burnett and Joyce Gannon, brother-in-law Danny Kautz as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

 He was predeceased by his wife Helen; parents Robert and Mary Burnett; sister Peggy Weisenberger; brothers Jim Burnett, Peter Burnett and George Burnett; sister-in-law Isabel Burnett; brother-in-law Emil Weisenberger as well as numerous in-laws from Helen’s family.

  Ian was born in Delburne on July 22, 1932 to Robert and Mary Burnett. He attended school at Kyle District and Calgary. 

 Ian spent ten years working for Sedco Exploration, which took him to many places in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana. While working in Grimshaw, he met and married Helen Novodvorski, his wife of fifty years. In 1962, with his wife and daughters, Ian moved back to Delburne where he resided until 2015.

 Ian and his brother Bob operated a Caterpillar construction business for eight years. He then was employed by the Red Deer County as a road maintainer/grader operator for twenty eight years. After retiring from the County, Ian was unable to give up his passion for operating a road grader, he continued working for Jade Oilfield Maintenance and Kirby’s Construction until the age of seventy eight. 

 Ian loved his family very much and enjoyed spending time with them. Some of his favorite past times were rodeos, camping, 

fishing, watching hockey and many road trips with Helen and his grandchildren. He will be lovingly remembered and missed dearly.

 If friends so desire, memorial tributes in Ian’s name may be made directly to a charity of one’s choice.