Obituary of John Feeney

Garth Anthony John Feeney (79) of Hanna, Alberta passed away on Monday April 29, 2024, surrounded by family, after a battle with his health.

Garth Anthony, fondly known as John, was born to James and Eva Feeney on May 16, 1944, in Wadena, Saskatchewan. In 1955 the family moved to Alberta and John completed grade 12 in Hanna.

John graduated from high school and took a job as a teller at the Royal Bank in Hanna from 1962 to 1964. John met Betty Lou Karg in the fall of 1963, and they got married on November 28,1964. Together, they moved around Alberta for eight years due to John’s employment with the bank. Over that time, they had three kids: Richard, Colleen, and Debbie.  Eventually, John was promoted to Branch Manager in Holden, and then was transferred north to Sexsmith where he was the Bank Manager from 1972-1977.

John always had an entrepreneurial spirit and in 1977 he decided to buy Sexsmith Real Estate and Insurance.

With Betty’s assistance, John ran this successful business until he sold it in 1990. John was a pillar of the community and felt passionate about giving back to the town of Sexsmith by volunteering on many boards and committees. John was on the Town Council for six years with a time as the Deputy Mayor and a short stint as Interim Mayor.

It was important for John to make time to maintain contact with his extended family around Canada and the USA. John and Betty made lifelong friends in Sexsmith and the surrounding area that became like family.

In 1993 John and Betty moved to an acreage on the Smoky River, by Teepee Creek. With John’s passion for the outdoors, he soon fell in love with the Smoky River area and all that it had to offer. This remained one of his favourite places for the rest of his life.

John was very active over the years. He was an avid scuba diver and loved to spend time in the water. He was a sportsman who enjoyed hunting, sport shooting, bow hunting and fishing. He played baseball, golf, horse racing, and curling among many activities.

John and Betty did a lot of traveling with friends over their many years. They loved Mexico and often traveling to Mazatlan, Ixtapa, Cabo San Lucas and Cancun. They also traveled to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and cruised the Mediterranean visiting ports in Egypt, Italy, Israel, and Greece. They further took cruises to the Caribbean and the Amazon River.

In 2005 John and Betty sold the farm on the Smoky River and then moved back to Hanna. Shortly after, Betty became ill and lost her battle with cancer on May 17, 2007.

After some time, John was reunited with his friend Shirley Shorrock (Golby) with whom he went to high school from grades 9 to 11 in Spondin. They started dating and Shirley moved in with John in the spring of 2009.

John and Shirley then became snowbirds and started travelling to Mesa, Arizona every winter where they had a permanent park model located in Century Plaza. John and Shirley also travelled to China, Mexico, Cuba, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, and the UK.  They would spend many summers at Canim Lake, BC.

John is survived by his partner Shirley Shorrock and three children: Rick and Colleen Feeney and Debbie Henriksen (Feeney); stepdaughters Jody Iles and Nicole Shorrock; grandchildren, Jordan Henriksen, Anna Henriksen and Sarah Henriksen. John was predeceased by his wife Betty Lou Feeney (Karg), brother James Feeney Jr. and parents James Feeney Sr. and Eve Feeney (Clark).

John did not want a formal funeral so the family will host a celebration of life on Saturday May 11, 2024, at 2 PM. The celebration will be at the Hand Hills Lake Club. A short program will be held at 2:00 p.m. followed by a luncheon.Come join them and exchange stories about John’s life.

If desired, donations in memory of John can be made directly to the Hanna Ladies Auxiliary, Box 23, Hanna, AB, T0J 1P0.