by Harold Munn with Sara Chu
April 2010
In February, 2010, the following story (slightly edited by S. Chu) was shared with Harold by John Sovereign, the Anglican priest in Chilliwack. He was at the bedside of Keith Mitcham who, for 31 years, supplied the donkey for our nativity pageants and Palm Sundays. The Reverend Sovereign was unsure if he had heard all the names in the story correctly as Keith spoke with him at the hospice in Langley.
Keith Mitcham was a highly trained pattern maker and as such worked on many ships' repairs, some of them very complex. Other tradesmen worked for him. Over time, the cold, the wet, and the harsh conditions of some of the work took their toll on him physically and eventually he was unable to continue. He became the owner of “Fantasy Donkeys” along with his wife, Elizabeth Ansell, and it sounds like he had 27 of them at one time. They lived at Cobble Hill before moving to Vancouver. The couple bred, trained , and employed the donkeys. Keith told me that donkeys are terribly intelligent if you get to know them, and gave me several examples of how they often understood exactly what he said to them.
Keith talked of his delight in his wife and it sounds like she must have died just a few years ago. He referred to a Chinese drawing on the wall of his room. It depicted horses playing together and he likened that scene to his relationship with Elizabeth. He spoke of their closeness and of doing things together their whole lives through. Keith and Elizabeth were also involved in auto racing for a long time, giving it up eventually as they grew older. Their neighbour in more recent years had a drag racing vehicle and Keith helped to tinker with it. He redesigned the underside of the car for better aerodynamics and that added about 20 mph to the top end in the quarter mile. That is very significant.
Keith's farm was one of those that were caught in the flood of 2007. He became deeply chilled while rescuing the animals and developed double pneumonia, from which he has never recovered fully. Of the 27 donkeys Keith began with 31 years ago, two are still living.”This year, despite his serious illness, Keith came to St John's on Palm Sunday for the dedication of a plaque to Elijah the donkey who served us so faithfully for more over three decades.
Farewell good friends. May your journey be gentle and blessed.