A kind man, a servant to Jesus Christ and all around him Alfred Thomas Dandurand, son of Renee and Marie Louise LaFrance Dandurand, was born on Dec. 21, 1926, in Kankakee, Ill., and left this life at the age of 82 on Aug. 12 at the Heart of the Ozarks Healthcare Center, Ava, Mo.
After a four-year courtship, Alfred and Ina Lee Vickers were united in marriage on July 15, 1950, in Kankakee, Ill. To this union were born three children. Alfred was married to this lady for 69 years. She was the Light of his Life and his “One and Only.”
Alfred was a resident of the Ava community for the last 28 years of his life and up to the last few years frequented the Ava Senior Center to play pool. In his lifetime he served as a lead foreman for AO Smith Water Heater Plant in Kankakee, Ill., and then later in life, was a construction contractor and maintenance man.
Alfred loved to work on motors of any kind and was truly a master of anything he put his hands to do. He was a kind man and a servant to Jesus Christ and to all those around him.
He was proceeded in death by his parents, Renee and Marie Dandurand, his wife Ina Lee Dandurand, one daughter Kathy Sue Dandurand, and one grandson Joseph Sims, as well as three sisters and six brothers.
He is survived by one son and daughter-in-law James Thomas Dandurand and Teena; and one daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca Sims and John, all of Ava; as well as six grandchildren, Daniel Sims, Katie Santana and her husband Sergio, Lindsey Dunston and her husband Anthony, Tiffany Dandurand, Brittany Dandurand and Alisha Dandurand; and three great-grandchildren, Mathew and Alyvia Dunston, and Breanna Santana. He is also survived by Joyce and Richard Mitchell and their two children, Patience Mitchell and Jeffrey Mitchell and his wife Grace who he claimed as his own.
Memorial services are scheduled at the Spring Valley Christian Center on Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. SVCC is located east of Ava on Hwy. 14. Memorial donations can be made to the Spring Valley Christian Center. All arrangements were under the care and direction of Ava Family Funeral Home.
