Obituary of Roland Eldred Sponagle

Roland Eldred Sponagle, age 92, passed away peacefully in his home (Grand View Manor) in Berwick, on September 23, 2023. Born in Berwick on August 31, 1931, he was the oldest son born to the late William Owen and Helen Florence (Cox) Sponagle, of Avonport.

Roland spent many years working as a farm labourer on his father’s farm, then on Dick Haliburton’s farm, both in Avonport. Through the years of working on his father’s farm, Roland also drove a school bus. He was a former member of the Hantsport and District Lions Club, as well as a member of the Old Farts Club in Avonport.

Throughout his busy years of farming, Roland had met and married his late wife, Marie; together they raised their four daughters in the house they built together on the Bluff Road in Avonport. Roland loved his family dearly, and always carried pictures of his wife, children, and grandchildren, in his wallet which he took everywhere with him, looking for that opportunity to show his family off to everyone. Roland loved going for drives in the countryside to see what crops were planted in which fields, and to look at fine herds of cattle. Roland also enjoyed and was very proud of his vegetable and flower gardens; if you stopped in to visit, you were sure to make a trip out to view his masterpieces. Roland was always watching hockey - the Pittsburg Penguins and Sidney Crosby being his favourite team and player.

Roland is survived by his brothers, Glen, Alberta; Mervin, Ontario; Gaye (Mary), Kentville; and Alan, Wolfville; brother-in-law, Brian (Betty) Oickle; children, Waydee (Blaine Harris), Greenfield; Tanya (Ronald Leblanc), New Minas; Rhonda, Avonport; and Joanne, Avonport; granddaughters, Sara (Dean Fordham), Digby; Samantha (Chauncey Hill), New Minas; grandsons, Keegan, Walton; Colton, Greenfield; and Casey, Greenfield; great-granddaughter, Maizy, Digby; and many nieces and nephews.

Besides his parents, Roland was predeceased by his wife, Marie; brother, Robert; sons-in-law, Colin Duncanson and David Harris; sisters-in-law, Marlene, Faye, and Marion.

A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, October 2, 2023, in the Avonport Baptist Church at 2:00 pm, with reception to follow. Interment will take place in the Greenfield Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Arrangements have been entrusted to Serenity Funeral Home, 34 Coldbrook Village Park Dr., Coldbrook, NS, B4R 1B9 (902-679-2822).