Cochrane Country Funeral Home

April 28, 1938 – May 30, 2016

If we are lucky in life, we might get to meet one person who is truly extra ordinary, that is: completely out of the ordinary. Fred was that kind of guy. He started life in a family of 12 kids in the Rural Municipality of Odanah in Manitoba. He grew up playing hockey, plucking chickens and attending a one room (grades 1- 12) school house in Carberry. It was in that little school that he first began to shine. It was impossible to tell what grade he was in as he absorbed knowledge like a sponge! This casual approach to learning may have been detrimental in some ways but it nurtured a free spirit that blossomed as Fred reached out in every direction to stuff his mind; making him a virtual ‘Mr. Google’ before most of us were even aware of the breadth and depth of the universe… and as a consequence, Fred had opinions.

On one level Fred could be seen as a ‘regular folk’ working away at a variety of jobs (chicken plucker, RCAF Navigator, Certified Engineering Technologist, road construction technician, insurance salesman, university lab tech, entrepreneur (his wife worked!), printer, greeter… whatever was needed to keep bread on the table. But, all the while, his heart and brain were working overtime. Always sticking up for the underdog, he championed and won decent and equitable pay for highway workers while he worked at Manitoba Highways and he was passionate about local and national politics wherever he was. Always asking: ”How does this affect the little guy?” An ardent nationalist, he firmly believed that he had been blessed to have been born at the best time in the best country in the world (blessed by whom, we might ask!). Dare we say he was a Liberal? …but one who would go out pounding signs in for a friend who was running for the PC’s! Fred’s library would make Stephen Hawking proud. While he was cracking concrete cylinders or testing circuits he would be off in his multi-dimensional world wrestling with the concept of singularities, black holes, general relativity and quantum mechanics. Fred was different. He actually understood this stuff.

Notwithstanding his complex lifestyle, Fred’s major focus remained his “Palen” family of which he was fiercely proud. He saw his family as being bound by invisible bonds of love and loyalty and being an open community with the ability grow by accretion. He started to build his part of it with Lorraine in Stoney Mountain, Manitoba in the 60’s and continued when he embraced Rosemarie Schmidt (Rose) the love of his life (1978) and they blended their families into one. Fred walked the talk. He fought for women’s equity and, at home he strongly encouraged and fully supported Rose to go back to school and get her Accounting Certificate.

Fred’s Dad, Hugh, was a chicken farmer in the days before quota’s and everyone had to work to keep the family afloat. Fred’s early years were tough but he learned some important lessons. One, after his mother, Helen, died when he was just 4, he learned from his new Mom, Margaret: that you simply love children for who they are. He applied this lesson to his own life, embracing all his kids Susan (Mike), Ken (Soraya), John (Missy), Angela (Paul), and Naomi (John) with equal affection and similarly delighting in his grandkids (Corbin, Paxton and Hadrian Carroll, Yukina Holmes, and Hugh and Jaxon Palen).
Fred is predeceased by his brothers, Dwight and Wesley, and also his sister, Ann Eurich. He is survived by his brothers Alexander, Ken, William (Pearl), Hugh (Candace) and Alan; and sisters Louise Berglund, Kathy (Jan) Renwick and Margaret (Ron) Gay.

Fred loved life. He loved living in ‘greater’ Cochrane and embracing all that the town had to offer: the Bearspaw Fair, working with Rose in her printing shop, running for council (and coming in last – what a loss that was! … not for Fred, but for Cochrane!), joining the Debate Club at A&W, the Saskatoon pie contests, antique auctions, meeting folks at Walmart and biking… man, did he enjoy biking and his biking buddies! True to his character, Fred didn’t just ‘bike around’. No, for Fred, it was off to Texas on his ‘Ching-Chang’, across Canada with his Yamaha rig, off to Winnipeg on his can-am Spyder, and a great trip to Winnipeg was planned for this summer. When Fred had an idea he didn’t just talk about it, he went ahead and did it… with every detail planned out. He was a friendly, outgoing member of the community with a tight network of family and friends, and his dynamic presence will be missed by all who knew him.

Fred is gone. He has found his singularity and he remains a part of us all.

His loving wife, Rose, and his family invite all those who have ever shared with Fred their enthusiasm for life and ideas to join them for a visitation on Sunday, June 5th from 4:30 to 6:30 pm at Cochrane Country Funeral Home (#6 402 Railway St W Cochrane AB).

A Celebration of Fred’s Life will be held at Cochrane Alliance Church (902 Glenbow Drive, Cochrane AB) on Monday, June 6th, 2016 at 11:00 am.
If friends so desire, memorial tributes in Fred’s memory may be made directly to Kids Cancer Care www.kidscancercare.ab.ca or charity of your choice.