Jonas Franklin Abramson

Jonas Abramson was born to Abram and Betty Abramson in 1938.  He was raised on the family farm with his sister, Edith, and his grandparents.   His kind and caring nature came from being surrounded by an extremely loving family.  Jonas attended school in Divide in a one-room schoolhouse.  He wasn’t a fan of school but put in his time and perked up when his brother-in-law became his teacher.  When he finished school, he started farming and ranching until his retirement at 65.  He met his beloved wife, Karen, when she was a teenager.  She made him wait to get married until she finished her education and job experience and he gladly waited for her.  They were married in May 1966 and enjoyed 55 happy years together.

Jonas and Karen started their life on a rented farm close to Claydon and then built a house on the family farm at Divide in 1980.  It was wonderful to have running water then!  They retired to an acreage west of Maple Creek in 2003 with even more water! 

Jonas and Karen had three daughters, Tanice, Joy and Sharie.  He absolutely loved being a father and the girls were wrapped around his finger.  He was blessed with grandchildren; Jacob, Rachel, Jade and Jazmin and the joy he found from being a grandfather was even greater. He spent every minute he could with them.  Lots of fun driving the garden tractor, giving toboggan rides, having ice cream breaks, tea parties, shooting gophers or helping in the garden.

Jonas loved farming, even in the tough years, and found special pleasure in working with his cattle.  He said he farmed because he had to, but his heart was with the cows and bulls.  He loved watching calves grow and play!   When he got tired of angry mama cows rolling him over, he invented a calf catcher that he attached to his truck which made checking so much easier.  He missed his chance at being a millionaire by not patenting his creation!  He had many loyal dogs in his life that he spoiled and took with him to do chores.  He had a soft spot for dogs and with a lot of convincing, maybe a cat or two, although he’d never admit it.

Jonas played ball for many years, and we all enjoyed the great stories he told about those days.  When his wife and daughters played ball, he became a loyal (and sometimes the only) Claydon Classics fan!  He’d even shut down seeding to come to a game. 

Jonas loved working the farm with his daughters and he was pretty pleased that the girls could do the jobs that boys usually did!  He was happy to brag about that to anyone who would listen. 

Jonas and Karen enjoyed many travelling adventures with their daughters, especially to Europe and to Blue Jay games in the US and Canada.  He was always amazed with new places and didn’t want to miss a minute of anything.  He couldn’t understand why we could sleep on a plane or train when there was so much to see outside the windows!

Jonas resided with Karen at the Cypress Lodge Personal Care home for the last 2 months of his life and was so happy to be with his silver fox again.

Jonas was a kind, patient and loving man who would do anything for anyone without expecting anything in return.  He was a good neighbor to everyone and never had an unkind thing to say.

He will be dearly missed and forever remembered.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Jonas Franklin Abramson, please visit our floral store.