What should have been a night of celebration was one of mourning for a local family and the Moose Jaw Kinsmen club.

42-year old Mike Gerbrandt - a Kinsmen member for roughly 20 years - passed away Saturday in a Mexican hospital after falling ill on a family vacation.

According to fellow Kinsmen member Cory Olafson, Gerbrandt began suffering from pancreatic issues late in the week.  He went to the Puerto Vallarta airport with his wife and three children Friday, and while waiting for their flight back home, he was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital as his condition worsened.

The family flew home, with Mike believing he would be able to return home soon after.  He had been hoping to return to Moose Jaw in time to assist with the Kinsmen club's annual Sports Celebrity Dinner and Auction at the Heritage Inn Saturday night. Instead, word of his passing reached Gerbrandt's fellow members before the event was over.

"We're going to miss him a lot," said Olafson. "A lot of people (will)..he was involved in so many things."

"Mike was always late with everything he did and that was always a joke with us (in the club)," Olafson chuckled, "but Mike always got it done.  He was on the R.M. board in Chaplin where he farmed, the provincial park board, (the Kinsmen)...he had a hard time saying 'no' to people."

Olafson says their hearts go out to Gerbrandt's wife and three children (ages 15, 11 and 7) in this difficult time. 

He also reflected on what has a been a mournful last few months for the Kinsmen club, as long-time member Russ McKnight passed away in December.  Olafson spoke at Saturday night's fundraising event, acknowleding that emotions were running high. 

"My first words (to the audience) were a 'shout-out' to Russ and how we were going to miss him.  Then I mentioned we had a current member (Gerbrandt) that wasn't doing very well and asked people to say a prayer for him.  We didn't expect that by the end of the dinner we wouldn't have him either."

Olafson added that there has been no date set for a memorial service.