Obituary:
Harvey Leroy Trace Feb. 4, 1931 – Feb. 20, 2024
Harvey Leroy Trace of New Norway, Alberta, passed away on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at the age of 93 years.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife Esther Trace; children Sherry (Ron) Jurykovsky, Roy (Rose) Trace, Janet Trace (Phil Zelenka), and Faye (Ron) Ford; fourteen grandchildren; twenty-one great-grandchildren; and siblings Francis Trace, Lucille Trace, and Audrey Lucas.
Harvey was predeceased by his parents Lorne and Flossie Trace; brother Donald Trace; and great-grandson Nathaniel.
No formal service will be held.
If family and friends so desire, memorial contributions in Harvey’s memory may be made to S.T.A.R.S. Air Ambulance.
Harvey founded Trace Scope Repairs.
Harvey was one of the four founders of the Alberta Schuetzen Guild and an avid BPCR shooter who spent many winters caretaking the Phoenix, Arizona range.
Harvey loaned me a Schuetzen rifle to get me into the single shot rifle sport.
Harvey was a helicopter pilot who retrieved me from some extremely tight spots in blizzard conditions and a cherished shooting buddy over many decades.
I will truly miss Harvey.
Harvey Trace has Gone to the Last Range
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SchuetzenDave
- Posts: 866
- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:07 am
- Location: St. Albert, Alberta
Harvey Trace has Gone to the Last Range
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SchuetzenDave
- Posts: 866
- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:07 am
- Location: St. Albert, Alberta
Re: Harvey Trace has Gone to the Last Range
Harvey LeRoy Trace
1931 ~ 2024
It is with great sadness we announce
the passing of Harvey Trace on
February 20, 2024, at the age of 93, with
many family members at his side.
He is survived by his wife Esther
Pearl (nee Neufeld) Trace; his children
Sherry (Ron) Jurykovsky, Roy (Rose)
Trace, Janet Trace (Phil Zelenka) and
Faye (Ron) Ford; 14 grandchildren and
21 great grandchildren ... ranging from age 8 months to 51 years;
brother Francis Trace; and sisters Lucille Vold and Audrey Lucas.
He was predeceased by his parents Lorne and Flossie Trace; a
brother Donald Trace; and a great-grandson Nathaniel Hill.
Harvey was born in Elnora, Alberta. He was raised around
central Alberta, taking most of his schooling in the Lacombe area.
As a boy, he had paper routes delivering the Edmonton Journal and
Calgary Herald on his bike. One day, at about 12 years old, he went
to a fair. He had saved up $3.00 from his job and was able to go for
a 15-minute airplane ride. He was hooked on flying. He decided he
was going to be a pilot someday, but that took money, so he found a
job to earn more. At 17, he went to Yellowknife, N.W.T. to work in
the Con Gold Mine. Coming back from there, he worked with his
brother for Borger Brothers Construction, building water reservoirs,
sewage lines, etc. He went on to road construction, drove taxi and
was a flying instructor, working to make money so he could rent a
plane. Harvey did ferrying for Stan Reynolds at the Wetaskiwin
Airport. He said he swept floors to work his way up for more flying
lessons.
Next he joined the Air Force and flew Harvards out of Gimli,
Manitoba. In 1951, he was sent to Trenton, Ontario, with his unit,
for the trooping of the colours for Princess Elizabeth when King
George died. He left the Air Force in 1952, returning to become an
Alberta Forest Ranger in the Kananaskis area in southern Alberta.
One of his jobs there was riding his horse, leading a pack horse
and checking power lines in the mountains, summer or winter.
After a few years, he decided to go back to flying. He was a flying
instructor for a while, then ended up at Associated Helicopters Ltd.
#10 Hanger. This was the very first helicopter company in Alberta.
Harvey flew for them for 36 years.
His jobs with the helicopter were varied ... fighting forest fires,
counting game, patrolling pipelines, stringing powerlines, hauling
surveys with oil companies, spotting illegal hunters, and flying
mercy flights (long before S.T.A.R.S). He also did timber cruising,
looked after and fed stranded cattle in snow storms, and took flood
victims to safety. Several times Harvey flew new helicopters from
Texas to Alberta. His jobs took him all across Canada plus several
months in Belize and Bombay.
Harvey had many hobbies. He enjoyed HAM radio, loved to fish,
go game hunting and competitive shooting, selecting nice wood and
building anything he could from it. In later years, he bought a lathe
and built tools and other things from metal. He built helicopter
parts. One time, he built a hockey puck throwing machine. They
were really happy with how well it worked. In later years, he took
up sewing and made many braided rugs and placemats as well as a
few quilts.
The competitive side of Harvey brought out many events where he
came home with ribbons, pins or trophies. These competitions took
him all over Canada and the USA, along with some of the family
to be proud and cheer him on. He won many t-shirts, sweatshirts,
jackets, hats, etc. Other winnings were a Rolex Oyster wristwatch
that came from flying 8800 accident-free hours with the helicopter.
Harvey and Esther formed their own company, Trace Scope
Repairs (repairing scopes and building stocks) and Nu-Line
Distributors Ltd. (selling scopes for the Burris factory out of
Colorado).
He loved to travel to Arizona for part of the winter. They did
so for 36 years. He made many close friends at the shooting ranges
there.
Harvey married Esther on April 8, 1955. They would have
celebrated their 69th anniversary this year.
We will hold a memorial of his life in the spring. If family
and friends so desire, memorial contributions in Harvey’s memory
may be made to STARS Air Ambulance, St. Mary’s Hospital in
Camrose,
1931 ~ 2024
It is with great sadness we announce
the passing of Harvey Trace on
February 20, 2024, at the age of 93, with
many family members at his side.
He is survived by his wife Esther
Pearl (nee Neufeld) Trace; his children
Sherry (Ron) Jurykovsky, Roy (Rose)
Trace, Janet Trace (Phil Zelenka) and
Faye (Ron) Ford; 14 grandchildren and
21 great grandchildren ... ranging from age 8 months to 51 years;
brother Francis Trace; and sisters Lucille Vold and Audrey Lucas.
He was predeceased by his parents Lorne and Flossie Trace; a
brother Donald Trace; and a great-grandson Nathaniel Hill.
Harvey was born in Elnora, Alberta. He was raised around
central Alberta, taking most of his schooling in the Lacombe area.
As a boy, he had paper routes delivering the Edmonton Journal and
Calgary Herald on his bike. One day, at about 12 years old, he went
to a fair. He had saved up $3.00 from his job and was able to go for
a 15-minute airplane ride. He was hooked on flying. He decided he
was going to be a pilot someday, but that took money, so he found a
job to earn more. At 17, he went to Yellowknife, N.W.T. to work in
the Con Gold Mine. Coming back from there, he worked with his
brother for Borger Brothers Construction, building water reservoirs,
sewage lines, etc. He went on to road construction, drove taxi and
was a flying instructor, working to make money so he could rent a
plane. Harvey did ferrying for Stan Reynolds at the Wetaskiwin
Airport. He said he swept floors to work his way up for more flying
lessons.
Next he joined the Air Force and flew Harvards out of Gimli,
Manitoba. In 1951, he was sent to Trenton, Ontario, with his unit,
for the trooping of the colours for Princess Elizabeth when King
George died. He left the Air Force in 1952, returning to become an
Alberta Forest Ranger in the Kananaskis area in southern Alberta.
One of his jobs there was riding his horse, leading a pack horse
and checking power lines in the mountains, summer or winter.
After a few years, he decided to go back to flying. He was a flying
instructor for a while, then ended up at Associated Helicopters Ltd.
#10 Hanger. This was the very first helicopter company in Alberta.
Harvey flew for them for 36 years.
His jobs with the helicopter were varied ... fighting forest fires,
counting game, patrolling pipelines, stringing powerlines, hauling
surveys with oil companies, spotting illegal hunters, and flying
mercy flights (long before S.T.A.R.S). He also did timber cruising,
looked after and fed stranded cattle in snow storms, and took flood
victims to safety. Several times Harvey flew new helicopters from
Texas to Alberta. His jobs took him all across Canada plus several
months in Belize and Bombay.
Harvey had many hobbies. He enjoyed HAM radio, loved to fish,
go game hunting and competitive shooting, selecting nice wood and
building anything he could from it. In later years, he bought a lathe
and built tools and other things from metal. He built helicopter
parts. One time, he built a hockey puck throwing machine. They
were really happy with how well it worked. In later years, he took
up sewing and made many braided rugs and placemats as well as a
few quilts.
The competitive side of Harvey brought out many events where he
came home with ribbons, pins or trophies. These competitions took
him all over Canada and the USA, along with some of the family
to be proud and cheer him on. He won many t-shirts, sweatshirts,
jackets, hats, etc. Other winnings were a Rolex Oyster wristwatch
that came from flying 8800 accident-free hours with the helicopter.
Harvey and Esther formed their own company, Trace Scope
Repairs (repairing scopes and building stocks) and Nu-Line
Distributors Ltd. (selling scopes for the Burris factory out of
Colorado).
He loved to travel to Arizona for part of the winter. They did
so for 36 years. He made many close friends at the shooting ranges
there.
Harvey married Esther on April 8, 1955. They would have
celebrated their 69th anniversary this year.
We will hold a memorial of his life in the spring. If family
and friends so desire, memorial contributions in Harvey’s memory
may be made to STARS Air Ambulance, St. Mary’s Hospital in
Camrose,
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gunlaker
- Posts: 2774
- Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2009 6:16 pm
Re: Harvey Trace has Gone to the Last Range
I'm sorry to hear about it Dave. I'd never met him, but heard a lot of good things about his scope repairs. It sounds like he was a heck of a fellow.
Chris.
Chris.
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bobw
- Posts: 3858
- Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 12:52 pm
Re: Harvey Trace has Gone to the Last Range
Other than Paul I don't know many of the Canadian shooters but my condolences to his family and shooting community for there loss. RIP Harvey Trace. Bobw
bobw
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SchuetzenDave
- Posts: 866
- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:07 am
- Location: St. Albert, Alberta
Re: Harvey Trace has Gone to the Last Range
I first met Harvey in 1975 when he ferried me out to the bush to timber cruise in an old Bell 47J.
He was instrumental in getting me into the Schuetzen game, provided expertise in modifications of firearms, advice on ammunition developments and provided me with superb optics for my firearms and spotting scope as well as duplicating stocks for me.
Harvey was recognized as a very cautious pilot and was provided with an award for the most hours flown on a Belll 206 without an accident.
A blizzard blew in and I would have been trapped for days out in the bush assessing beetle damaged timber if he had not been monitoring the weather.
He radio me to go to a landing minutes before the blizzard blew in.
I ran down hill to the site he chose on a steep side hill.
The clearing was smaller than the rotor on his helicopter.
He went straight down clipping off the branches of the trees and then had to hover while I climbed up on a skid.
We made it down to the river before the blizzard hit and visibility was so bad we had to skim over the ice until we came up to the bridge over the river.
We then had to park the helicopter on the ice and then walk a few miles back to our cabin.
He was not so cautious when he came out to save my bacon.
He was the first one to fly a Bell 206 into Alberta.
Harvey had to pick me up off a beaver house dripping wet (since the Bell 47J broke down) before he gave the very first inaugral ride to Premier Lougheed.
Trace Scope Repiars continues operations with his Daughter Janet and Phil Zelenka.
He was instrumental in getting me into the Schuetzen game, provided expertise in modifications of firearms, advice on ammunition developments and provided me with superb optics for my firearms and spotting scope as well as duplicating stocks for me.
Harvey was recognized as a very cautious pilot and was provided with an award for the most hours flown on a Belll 206 without an accident.
A blizzard blew in and I would have been trapped for days out in the bush assessing beetle damaged timber if he had not been monitoring the weather.
He radio me to go to a landing minutes before the blizzard blew in.
I ran down hill to the site he chose on a steep side hill.
The clearing was smaller than the rotor on his helicopter.
He went straight down clipping off the branches of the trees and then had to hover while I climbed up on a skid.
We made it down to the river before the blizzard hit and visibility was so bad we had to skim over the ice until we came up to the bridge over the river.
We then had to park the helicopter on the ice and then walk a few miles back to our cabin.
He was not so cautious when he came out to save my bacon.
He was the first one to fly a Bell 206 into Alberta.
Harvey had to pick me up off a beaver house dripping wet (since the Bell 47J broke down) before he gave the very first inaugral ride to Premier Lougheed.
Trace Scope Repiars continues operations with his Daughter Janet and Phil Zelenka.
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SchuetzenDave
- Posts: 866
- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:07 am
- Location: St. Albert, Alberta
Re: Harvey Trace has Gone to the Last Range
Harvey's Celebration of Life is being held on Saturday May 11th at 2 pm. The location is the New Norway Community Hall.
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bdelatorre
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:59 pm
Re: Harvey Trace has Gone to the Last Range
Harvey was at many of our matches in Arizona. He was great person and very fun to be around. I loved his dry sense of humor. Seems like he had a full life! Our condolences from the Arizona Sharpshooters!