Obituary of Sanford Redden

REDDEN, Sanford Lewis?쳌89, well-loved resident of New Ross and the Windsor Elms Village, passed away peacefully Saturday evening, January 29, 2011, surrounded by daughter Donna, sister Leodia, niece Effie Smith and nephew Reid Broome. Born in New Ross, he was the youngest son of the late Harry and Lena (Lantz) Redden, and is survived by his daughter Donna Redden, West Porters Lake, and sister Leodia Broome, of New Ross, and numerous nieces and nephews. Besides his parents he was predeceased by wife Dorothy Geraldine (Lantz) Redden; Sisters Anna Peach and Roxey O'Leary, and brothers Seaman and Orville. He served overseas during WW II as a machine-gunner in 1st Infantry Division, West Nova Scotia Regiment, and was in England, North Africa, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium and Holland. He remembered landing back in Nova Scotia on his 24th birthday, Oct 2, 1945, as his - best birthday present ever쳌. Married in 1952, he and Dorothy moved to Winnipeg where he got a job at National Cartage, a trucking company contracted to CNR. In 1959 they decided to return to Nova Scotia with their daughter and settled in his home village of New Ross, where he set up an auto repair shop and salvage yard operation. Later he ran a three-ton truck hauling fill and gravel to many cabin-owners in the area. He also restored several antique vehicles, including a 1935 2-ton Ford truck, a 1948 Mercury pick-up and a 1952 Ford 3-ton truck, with a gravel box and heist, in which he installed a 350 Chevy engine for more power. He always chuckled over an incident when he was driving that truck out over the Magazine Hill in Dartmouth and a tractor-trailer tried to pass him--he put the pedal to the metal and that old truck shot off like a scalded cat. He was an amateur road engineer and built a number of roads throughout the trees on his property, circling the pond he called - Pig Lake쳌, many of which he paved with recycled asphalt and a home-made ride-on roller. He also was very proud of a 1928 Model A Ford which he purchased in excellent restored condition, always willing to take visitors for a ride around his property. At the side of the garage one could always find a junk pile of metal and wood, his source of supplies for his folk-art Paul Bunyan-sized tools?쳌various claw hammers and axes, including one double-bitted axe with a 22쳌span almost too heavy to lift, peaveys, drawknives, a 30' fishing rod (for smelts), his - garden devils쳌 (little metal cat-like creatures), and a shotgun, whose barrel was made from the driveshaft of a Ford pickup. He also welded sweet-sounding oxbells from galvanized steel and painted them brass color?쳌many were sold to tourists passing through as well as locals. He was the man to come to when someone needed a small welding job or an obscure car part; if it was pre-1975 he had an encyclopedic knowledge of what alternative parts would fit, and if he didn't have them he'd have a good idea who did. He could recognize with just a glance the year, make and model of an old vehicle sticking its nose out from behind a barn. He also was known as a water-diviner, and would often be called upon by people in surrounding communities to find a well. Any old forked stick would do, it didn't have to be fancy, and he could always tell how far down to dig. His daughter remembers seeing him walk around the basement of the house he was building, and finding a well in the corner that turned out to be spring-fed and never went dry, and that was his first attempt! His daughter also remembers three phrases she heard him repeat on many occasions-- every time she brought her car home for repair: - I don't know how she got it out here.쳌 On occasions when Dorothy thought he wasn't charging enough for his labor: - The other guy's gotta live too.쳌 And most often, from a man who could teach buzzards how to scavenge: - I don't waste nuthin'!쳌 A neighbour remembers him saying that he was expecting to move any time now, to - a basement apartment on Mac's Hill쳌, a twinkle-in-his-eye reference to the New Ross Baptist Cemetery. Special thanks to the wonderful staff at Windsor Elms Village, Falmouth, who made his last few years comfortable and worry-free. Visitation will be 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Thursday February 3, 2011 at the Serenity Lindsay Funeral Home, 4935 Highway #12, New Ross. The Funeral Service will take place at the New Ross Baptist Church on Friday, February 4, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. with Pastor David Hine officiating. Burial will follow in the Baptist Church Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to Windsor Elms Village, Falmouth and Valley Regional Hospital, Kentville. Arrangements are under the care and direction of Serenity Lindsay Funeral & Crematorium, 4935 Highway #12, New Ross, NS B0J 2M0. (902) 689-2961. Donations or Cards in memory may be sent to this address or on-line at: www.serenitylindsayfuneralhome.ca