Written by Ayla Butler

Gene Langford Gibeault, “Lanky,” as most called him, was born in Loon Straits, MB, on January 1, 1946. He passed away on March 19, 2017, surrounded by family. I was lucky enough to call him Grandpa. My brother and I grew up with Gramps living in the same home as us for most of our lives. In my teen years, he moved in with my aunt, but that didn’t stop him from always being a stable person in both my brother’s life and mine.

Grandpa was a funny guy, always trying to make others laugh, and if no one else was laughing, he would still make sure to have a laugh himself and follow it with, “You think Grandpa’s crazy, don’t ya?” with a big grin on his face. As a natural debater and wonderer of life, my Grandpa made sure I always had a partner to have a good argument with, or someone to listen to all my grand ideas and wonders about life. I never had to doubt myself around my Grandpa. He made sure to tell everyone how proud he was and how smart his granddaughter was. It’s his positive encouragement that continues to push me today.

He loved music, hockey, fishing, and camping at his sister Hazel’s family island. He loved a good game of crib and a cold Kokanee beer. He was a carpenter by trade and worked many years in sawmills, which is how he lost his fingers.

I got the praying hands tattoo before he passed away because I wanted to know what he would have thought of it and to see his reaction. My love for tattoos came from him. Growing up and looking at his tattoos, I remember he had knuckle tattoos of his initials. My brother had the same tattoos put on his knuckles, along with both of their initials, before Grandpa passed, in honour of him. I chose the praying hands because I never wanted to forget what his hands looked like. The daffodils under his hands were to represent friendship. It also just so happened to line up with his death month, as daffodils are March’s birth flower.

Lanky held many titles in life: son, brother, husband, father, uncle, grandfather, and boyfriend to many (he had a lot of love to give in his life), but his greatest title was friend. Friend was his greatest title because I can wholeheartedly say that everyone in his life could count on him to be their friend, no matter what other title he carried in their life. I can say he was, and always will be, my best friend.