With great sadness we announce that John peacefully left us for his next adventure on September 11 after a brief illness and his usual good fight.  He was surrounded by his loving family.

With his zest for life, love of adventure, cheeky sense of humour, and sometimes salty tongue, John will be missed by his family, Sedgewick Crescent neighbours and his dear friends at Wellington Terrace.

John leaves behind Dianne, his wife of 61 years, son John with wife Melissa and grandchildren Victoria and Faith, and daughter Lisa with husband John and grandchildren Katie and Aidan.

John was predeceased by his parents, Phillip and Florence, brothers Phil (Joan), Dennis (Betty) and Jack, sisters Dorothy and Phyllis, and his beloved mother-in-law Victoria Smith.  John also leaves his sister Maureen, nieces Jean, Jenny, Sandy, Suzie and Jane, and nephews Mark, Andrew and Steven.

Always a Londoner, John was very proud of his service in the Royal Air Force.  A testament to his adventurous nature, he arrived in Canada at 22 via The Empress of Scotland with $19 in his pocket.  He lived with his sister Dorothy in Oakville and worked in Port Credit at British Petroleum.

John met Dianne, the love of his life, in 1960 and they married in 1961.  They bought a red brick house on Sedgewick Cres and it was always full of neighbourhood kids.  The little house became famous for the garden, home-made tarts, caramel candy apples at Halloween and John dressing up as Santa at Christmas.  There is always a full bowl of water at the curb for passing neighbourhood animals.

He was very proud of being able to return to school for his teaching certificate and taught at General Brock High School (Burlington) and E.C. Drury High School (Milton). He loved being a teacher.  John also loved sports and was an avid golfer, umpire, soccer player and coach.  He loved coaching especially teams who were the underdog and wrote a storied history of strategic and hard-fought wins. One of his loves was fishing and any adventures on the water.

John was never afraid to take on a project especially when helping a neighbor in need – he fixed chimneys, roofs, patios, brick walls, the list is endless.  He created big swings and huge back yard ice rinks.  He loved to paint and draw, stepping up to paint a tiger on the TA Blakelock high school bathtub for the road race.  He also became famous on the lakes of northern Ontario for the glorious elaborate garden painted on his tin fishing boat.

He loved all animals including horses and tried desperately not to be afraid of them.  He loved all of our family dogs and it is both comforting and wonderful to picture the greeting he no doubt received on arrival to heaven.

Without question, the absolute pride of Johns life was his family.  Especially his grand-children.  He would support and encourage their every adventure and would light up even hearing their names.  It was very important to John that they knew how much he loved them.

We are deeply grateful to the entire team at Wellington Terrace who nursed him back to health and treated him like a king.  Thanks also to the staff at Grove's hospital for the excellent care he received in his final days.  And to Dr. John Stickney who is now a member of our family.  You folks all deserve more than words could ever express.  We would like to thank all of our family and friends for their support during our tough times.  Your thoughtfulness is a nice legacy for John.

As per his wishes, John has been cremated and returned home.

Friends and Family are welcome to join us in a celebration of his wonderful life at Kopriva Taylor Community Funeral Home at 64 Lakeshore Rd W., Oakville, ON on Saturday October 12 at 11:00 with reception following immediately after.