Fred Androsoff of Lethbridge, Alberta (formerly of Vulcan County) left us to be with his loving Father in heaven on March 28, 2014 at age 94. Those left behind have fond memories of his kindness, integrity and strong work ethic but their most endearing memory is his unwavering faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Fred was born on the family farm between Mikado and Canora, Saskatchewan. His parents and some relatives emigrated from Russia on a ship donated by Queen Victoria of England when they were children.
Fred and his parents moved to Kitchener, BC about 1924 where his father worked for the railroad and then the family settled in Mossleigh, AB where they acquired farmland. Fred attended a little country school and after his father had an accident, Fred helped his uncles farm the land. As a young boy, he was plowing the fields by himself using a large team of horses.
Fred married Annie Zaytsoff on November 8, 1936 when he was 16 years old. Shortly after marriage Fred, Annie and his parents moved to Mulhurst and cleared some land for farming. It was here that Fred and Annie, still teenagers, accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Fred enjoyed reminiscing about his profound conversion. He shared that he planned to ask Jesus into his heart at the next church service but couldn’t bear to wait that long so he prayed for forgiveness and salvation while he was home alone.
Fred and Annie took horse-drawn wagons filled with people to church and Fred’s greatest desire was that his family and friends accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior too, so that they could all meet in heaven one day.
After Fred and Annie’s first child Irene was born in 1941 they moved to Queenstown, AB to help farm his father-in-law’s land and then purchased their own land to farm. Fred started a Sunday school in the local church, found ministers to come hold services and gradually the congregation grew. When Queenstown schools closed because the children started being bused to Milo, the congregation purchased the schools, turned them into dormitories, started a bible school and held church services there.
As a young man Fred was diagnosed with rheumatic fever that damaged his heart and was told he could not work hard anymore. When the chest pains came, he would lay down until they went away and then continued working the farm. He persevered and recovered from the disease to continue farming throughout his life. He truly believed all things are possible with God.
Fred’s second child Stephen was born November 17, 1951 in Vulcan, Alberta. Fred and Stephen spent Fred’s later years working closely together as father and son.
During his lifetime Fred farmed wheat, oats and barley. He also raised milk cows, sold organic vegetables, owned a mobile home park in Bowden, owned Calgary rental properties and worked at Woodward’s in Calgary.
Later in life Fred worked on his acreage in Vulcan, AB and then retired in Lethbridge where he lived with his son and daughter-in-law Tanya and continued to shovel snow into his 90s.
Fred supported many evangelistic ministries throughout his life and always looked forward to the rapture of the church. Due to his generosity he was known to have barns that were overflowing.
Irene remembers him saying “Learn from the mistakes of others so that you do not have to learn the hard way by making the same mistakes yourself.” Fred recently told his daughter-in-law that Irene was his “little evangelist” when she was a young girl and that he wanted his entire family to be told that he loved all of them.
Fred is survived by daughter Irene (Arthur) Renneberg of Lacombe and son Stephen (Tanya) Androsoff of Lethbridge, three grandchildren Wendy (Bob) Renneberg-Nelson of Lacombe, Stephanie Schulze of Hinton, Jennifer Androsoff of Calgary, six great grandchildren Eric, Michael, Kristy, Jade, Charley, Hailey and one newly born great great grandson Jace.
Fred was married to Annie for 68 years who predeceased him in 2005.
Fred was the youngest and only boy of six children. All five of Fred’s sisters predeceased him: Annie Chutskoff, Mary Holoboff, Polly Zaytsoff, Mabel (Nettie) Semenoff and Laura Sukeroff.
The family wishes to express their heartfelt gratitude to Home Care Services nurses, Greystokes Health Care Team and Palliative Care Team for their kind compassionate care in Fred’s last days, which was a real blessing. They also greatly appreciate the equipment loaned by the Canadian Red Cross in Lethbridge that helped Fred to continue to be cared for at home.
Funeral service will be held on Friday, April 11, 2014 at 1:30 p.m. at the Chapel at Rocky View Garden of Peace, Hwy1 at Garden Road, Calgary with Chaplain Brian Palsky officiating.
Interment Rocky View Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Canadian Red Cross at http://www.redcross.ca/donate/donate-online/make-a-donation-in-memory
Arrangements in care of Vulcan Funeral Home. Directors. Telephone 1-403-485-2633. E-mail condolences through www.vulcanfuneralhome.ca.