In Memory Of

Norman Kenneth Bierkos

Apr 5, 1933 - Sep 14, 2025

Service

Friday, September 26, 2025
2:00 pm
Alliance Community Church, 4407 47th Avenue, Sylvan Lake

Obituary

Norman Kenneth was born to Ralph and Ellen Bierkos on March 5, 1933, near Arvilla in Westlock County, Alberta. Raised on a horse-powered farm with 3 brothers and 6 sisters, he walked to a one room school, only a mile and a half cross-country. In his spare time Norm ran a trapline and had enough “fur money” to buy a quarter section when he was 17. His dad played accordion for local dances, and Norm was always ready to take a whirl on the dance floor. He also enjoyed pitching for the local ball team. The thrifty hardworking and lanky teenager went to work on an oil drilling rig in 1950, and in a few years, he was the rig manager.

One day a waitress in the Rimbey Bakery and Cafe caught his eye, and they soon forged a lifelong partnership. Norm married Loretta Hilman in Centerville, Washington on August 18, 1956. Norm continued to work in the oil patch into the 60’s, pulling a small trailer around the province with a growing family in tow. With children born in Edmonton, Brooks, Devon, Barrhead, they settled in a house in Sylvan Lake (built by Loretta’s grandfather in 1947) and had one more child born at the Eckville hospital.

In the 1980s, Norm started Bierkos Brothers Construction, doing plumbing, handyman work and some very diverse projects. After their children finished school, Norm turned his hand to custom fencing. They lived in a much smaller trailer, mostly on remote provincial grazing reserves, with Loretta working alongside him, and their children coming out to pound staples when they could.

In the mid-1990s, Norm and Loretta bought land south of Sylvan Lake and ranched for a dozen years. A rancher needs a horse, and his brother Walter bought him one at a Barrhead Auction on a whim. Loretta named the horse Laurel. She turned out to be a very good cow horse, and Norm greatly enjoyed working cattle and helping in neighbors’ cattle drives from her back. They pastured the herd in Barrhead and hauled them back to Sylvan every winter. After selling their herd in 2009, Norm and Loretta “retired” to grain farming with their oldest son Ralph.

Norm’s participation gradually tapered off in his 80s, but he was always keen to go check the farm, making his last trip to the “north farm” in June 2025. Now as he rides off into the sunset we say, “Great job” and “Happy trails, cowboy”!

Norm was predeceased by his parents, Ralph and Ellen; his brothers Harold, Walter, and Eric; his sisters Doris, Ruth, Lena, and Phyllis; and his son Kerry.

He leaves to mourn: his wife Loretta; sisters Margaret and Mary; children Ralph, Dean (Shirley), Wayne, and Loreli (Rob); 14 grandchildren; and 9 great grandchildren.

Viewing and visitation - 7:00 PM Thursday, September 25 at the Sylvan Lake Funeral Home – 5019 47a Avenue, Sylvan Lake.

Funeral service - 2:00 PM, Friday, September 26 with luncheon to follow at the Alliance Community Church, 4407 47th Avenue, Sylvan Lake.

Livestream Link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JAGnbl4Z-k0

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