Obituary of Rae Alvin Matsen

Rae was born in Salmon Arm, BC, the youngest of two children to William and Vivian (Bellamy) Matsen. He passed away peacefully at Dunrovin Park Lodge in Quesnel, BC. He was predeceased by his parents and sister Ella Matsen, nephew Jimmy and niece Charlotte. Survived by his children Mark (Cathy) and Brenda (Glenn) and grandchildren Brendan (Sarah), John (Ashley), Riley and Tristan; step-grandchildren Yunxiang, Brittany (Charelle) and Warren; great-grandchildren Ezra, Israel and Jack; niece Linda and many cousins.

Rae left school in grade 8 to work on a farm, which may have been the start of his dream to own his own farm. As a teenager, he had a steer he trained to pull a wagon and a pet raven that shows up in several of his family photos. He enjoyed the outdoors, hunting, fishing and playing cards. In 1963, he married Marlene Tegart. He had various jobs while in Salmon Arm including falling trees, working in the plywood plant, driving gravel truck and in the logging industry as a heel boom operator. In 1968, they and their two children moved to a farm just west of Dawson Creek, BC, where he also worked on a seismic line. His work took his family to McKenzie, where he drove a logging truck and worked again with the heel boom. Rae and his family then moved to Quesnel in 1970, where he lived the remainder of his life. Rae and Marlene moved to their farm in the Dragon Lake area in 1973 which, was also the same year that he bought his own logging truck. He spent many a long day hauling logs, maintaining his truck and working on the farm. Rae sold his logging truck in 1981 and in the following years worked for Arrow driving chip trucks before retiring in 1993.  

Rae loved the Quesnel area and was an avid reader of its history and the surrounding area. He was a self-taught mechanic with an aptitude for building and repairing things. His skills were well utilized on his logging truck and the farm. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, snowmobiling, quadding, exploring the outdoors, and horse packing trips into the Itcha mountains among many other adventures. After retiring he continued farming until the farm was sold in 2014, allowing Rae to spend more time with his outdoor hobbies. He was a hard worker who loved a good laugh and joking around with family and friends. He enjoyed adventures with his dogs and could often be found having coffee with friends at the A&W, north of town.

He lived his final years at Dunrovin Park Lodge. The Family would like to thank everyone there for the kind, compassionate and attentive care given to Rae.

His family and friends were very special to Rae and he will be sadly missed.

In memoriam donations can be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.  

There will be no Service held.

The Dash

By Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at a funeral

of a friend.  He referred to the dates on the tombstone

from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke

of the following date with tears, but he said what

mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time they spent

alive on earth and now only those who loved them

know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own, the cars…

the house…the cash.  What matters is how we

live and love and how we spend our dash.

so think about this long and hard; are there things

you’d like to change?  For you never know how much

time is left that can still be rearranged.

To be less quick to anger and show appreciation

more and love the people in our lives

like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect and more often wear

a smile…remembering that this special dash might

only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read, with your life’s actions

to rehash…would you be proud of the things

they say about how you lived your dash?