Daniel Jackson Babcock

Daniel Jackson (Jack) Babcock, 80, Orange City, died at home Mon., April 23, 2007. There will be no funeral service. Following cremation Mr. Babcock will be buried in a plot near his parents in High Prairie, Alberta, Canada. Jack was born April 9, 1927, in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, to William R. and Phoebe (Clynch) Babcock. When he was two, the family moved into the wilds of northern Alberta to build a log cabin home at North Salt Prairie, where he lived throughout his youth. He led a very interesting life, working on the Alaska Highway in 1943, assisting in building and sailing a tugboat and barges down the Laird and McKenzie rivers in Northwest Territories. He migrated to Ontario where he joined the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 793, and was flown all over Canada for various construction companies. On Nov. 25, 1988, Jack married his childhood sweetheart, Miriam Ruth DuBois, in Chatham, Ontario, and they moved to Orange City in 1993. He operated a dragline in Florida for eight winters, spending his summers building a small home in Michigan. He is survived by his loving wife, Miriam Babcock, Orange City; son, Robert Babcock, Calgary, Alberta; seven daughters, Christine Elizabeth Bird, London, Ontario, Bobby Bisson, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Tabatha Hamel, Marathon, Ontario, Alida Van Braeden, Edmonton, Alberta, Linda Denmark, Yellville, Ark., Wendy Hoffman, Farmington, N.M., and Juanita Gibney, Summerland, British Columbia; 24 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren. Memorial donations sugested to Florida Hospital Memorial Hospice Care, 875 Sterthaus Ave., Ormond Beach, FL 32174.