James (Jim) Sutherland left this world in the early morning of May 1, 2025, at age 98.  He is predeceased by his wife, Ella (Stewart, d. Nov 10, 1989) and his 3 sisters, Anne (Pfund), Kath (Mitchell) and earlier this year, Thelma (Letcher), all were in their 90s. Jim is survived by his brother, Peter (85) and his three children, Joanne (Martin), Michael (Debbie) and David (Zoe). Jim has five grandchildren, Calvin (Breanna) and Jenna Crook and Kinsey, Max and Elsie Sutherland.  Jim spent as much time as he could with his family.

Jim was born in Cranbrook, British Columbia to Eileen (Spence) and John James Sutherland on March 12, 1927.  One of his fondest memories growing up in Cranbrook as a young boy was building a log cabin in the forest with his friends.  It was a livable cabin! While he made some money working at Sash and Door in the summers moving lumber, most of his post graduate education was paid with full scholarships.  He got his Civil Engineering degree from UBC (May 1949), his Masters from Stanford in California (June 1950) and his PhD from the University of Illinois in Chicago Feb 1953).  Jim gave his PhD dissertation then immediately drove north to avoid being drafted for the Korean War.  He was hired at Alcan International in Kingston Ontario where he worked until he retired.  He met the love of his life, Ella Stewart at a Y programme called SoEd.  Despite thinking Jim too young and too short, Ella admired his intellect and they married 6 months later on July 14, 1956 and had 3 children together.  They loved the outdoors and picnicking so in 1963 they bought a piece of land on Buck Lake about 25 km north of Kingston towards Westport.  After building a dock at the shore, Jim decided to build a two storey cottage on the property as his 1967 Centennial project.  The family lived there in the summers while Jim commuted 30 minutes to Alcan daily.  Jim's talents included alpine skiing, water skiing, sailing, scuba diving and building things (furniture, driftwood lamps, Lincoln log building set, dollhouse).  He was very proud of the cedar strip canoe he built.

Sadly Ella died November 10, 1989 after her long battle with breast cancer followed by bone cancer.  Jim was 62.  He carried on living alone in Kingston and spending summers at his cottage.  Jim went on annual ski trips with the guys.  On one trip in 2005, he broke his odontoid bone in his neck and had to wear a halo brace screwed into his skull for 9 1/2 months.  Luckily for Jim, Michael still lived in Kingston and came over to help him each day.  Dad scared all of the Halloween trick-or-treat kids that year with that horrible attire!

Jim was so devoted to his grandchildren.  Calvin and Jenna spent a lot of time with their grandpa at Camp Grandpa every summer in the 1990s.  Then in later years, Kinsey, Max and Elsie lived at the cottage every July and August spending time with their parents and grandpa Jim for 14 years.  This allowed Jim to safely spend many more summers at the cottage including the infamous summer of 2020.

In July 2014, Jim moved to Ottawa to be closer to his younger grandchildren.  For several years he lived in an apartment within Dave and Zoe's house before moving to the Villagia retirement home nearby.  As Jim needed more help, he moved to Sunrise Assisted Living Oakville to be closer to Joanne since she had more time for visiting him. Then, for the past 5 months Jim lived in Wyndham Manor long term care Oakville.

Jim lived a rich and fulfilling life but needing care was difficult for such a private man.  He loved being busy.  He had a lovely day out by Lake Ontario on Easter Sunday.  On the morning of Wednesday April 23, he was found unresponsive and was sent to the hospital to determine the cause.  He was put on palliative care until his death 8 days later.

My brothers and I feel very lucky that we had such terrific parents. Almost 36 years ago, we spread our Mum's ashes at our family cottage on Buck Lake. It was my father's wish to have his ashes spread at the same place. At some point within the next year, we will have a small family gathering at the cottage to celebrate dad's life.
We will not be holding a formal funeral service. Dad has outlived almost all of his friends and family. His brother, nieces and nephews live in British Columbia.