'Fiercely independent' Saskatoon senior found dead got disoriented, says family

Family members say it appears that an 88-year-old man became disoriented while on a daily walk through Saskatoon this weekend, with fatal results.

The body of Philip Noonan was found in a grassy field south of Preston Crossing on Monday afternoon. Family and search teams had been looking for him for more than a day.

• Missing Saskatoon man, 88, found dead

Noonan's son, Francis Noonan, said Philip was "fiercely independent" and lived alone in a house in the Sutherland neighbourhood. He had beendiagnosed with dementia.

A physically active man, Noonan would normally walk through the city on a set route, no matter what the weather was like outside.

"He went out rain or shine," said Francis. "It didn't matter how cold it was: He just shortened up his walk."

Missing man

On Sunday, Francis arrived at his father's house to take him to church. When he wasn't there, he texted family members. No one had seen him.

After retracing Philip's typical routeand finding nothing, the family called police.

"He was in great shape," Francis said. "And, in a way, that was maybe not such a good thing. He went wandering a little bit too far and got disoriented."

Francis said the search, which went straight through Sunday night, was inspiring to watch.

"These are all people who have day jobs," said Francis, "and a lot of them worked through the night to try and support it."

Francis said the effort "speaks volumes about the character of this community."