Samson Benjamin 'Sparkie' Milner.Courtesy of the family
Samson Benjamin (Sparkie) Milner: Athlete. Advocate. Storyteller. MS survivor. Born April 21, 1927, in Vegreville, Alta.; died March 2, 2019, in Edmonton of respiratory failure, aged 91.
Our dad lived with multiple sclerosis for almost 70 years. Oh, how he would have hated that we’ve started with that observation. Instead, he’d have said that he lived life despite his MS, and that he’d conquered it using three key weapons: his love of people, his positive attitude and his love of telling stories of his colourful life.
He would tell of growing up in Edmonton in the 1940s playing baseball and hockey. Since he was such a good goalie, the Canadiens offered him $100 and train fare to Montreal for a tryout. Some years later, he played minor-league hockey in the States and joined the U.S. Army, but avoided being sent to Korea by becoming the star catcher on his army base’s baseball team. After his discharge (and his first MS diagnosis), Sparkie travelled throughout the United States as a barker for a carnival “freak show.”
He returned to Canada to try and settle down. Back in Edmonton, he was set up on a double date and met Bernice Flaxman of Winnipeg. They eventually married, and hockey lured Sparkie (and his family) back to the U.S., where he coached the Great Falls Americans senior team in Montana. It was here that they had their first son, Marty, in 1956. Returning to Edmonton the next year, they had their second son, Randy, in 1958.
Dad owned a small muffler repair shop and then became a furniture salesman, but money was always tight. He found more stable work managing ice rinks for the city. This was lucky for us boys, since we picked up free indoor ice time and surplus hockey equipment. But Dad always had a business hustle of one sort or another going. He promoted pro rasslin’ matches in arenas in small-town Alberta. One memorable Saturday morning, Dad and a bunch of wrestlers were driving through Edmonton to that night’s performance. But first, they stopped at our house, where Mom made a huge breakfast and the dwarf wrestlers put on a memorable show for us on the living-room rug.
Bernice, known to all as “Bossy,” was devoted to Sparkie despite the emotional roller coaster that came with the MS. He could rise to anger easily. But he would also cry during a sentimental movie.
Our dad’s stories often grew better with the telling. But if you weren’t spellbound, he’d hold you gently by the forearm to remind you that the story wasn’t quite finished. He loved connecting with people, and when he and Mom visited Israel (his only trip overseas), Dad would often tell the tour guide to leave the hotel without him. He’d rather sit in the lobby and talk with strangers than look at antiquities and religious sites.
In 1979, after spending six months in hospital when his MS flared, he started a small organization designed to help people living with disabilities. He also worked to have street corners become wheelchair-friendly. But what he loved most was spending time with MS sufferers, encouraging them to beat the disease by being positive and active, just like him. For his community efforts, he was inducted into Edmonton’s Salute to Excellence Hall of Fame in 2002.
To the very end, his positive attitude never wavered. He lived every day forcefully and courageously.
Randy and Marty Milner are Sparkie’s sons.
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