Parcourez la nécrologie de John Pickering Wednesday November 29 2023 résidant dans la province Ontario pour le détail des funérailles
John Beverley Pickering died peacefully in his sleep on November 29, 2023 in Bowmanville, Ontario at the age of 100.
John is survived by his 4 children: Elaine, Laurie (Ib), Geoffrey (Iris), and Murray (Joy), by his 9 wonderful grandchildren; Kaspar, Alexandra, Rachael, Emily, Ben, Erin, Sebastian, Sasha, and Andrew; and by his two great grandchildren—Artur and Frej.
John was born in Singhampton, Ontario in 1923, the oldest of three boys. The son of a United Church Minister, the family moved several times to small towns throughout southern Ontario including Barrie and Hanover.
Dad had remarkable talents and energy with which he quietly wowed us all throughout our lives. From building his own ice fishing hut complete with wood stove at age 12, to his seemingly endless adventures with his brothers and their collie Pete. One adventure which included rooftop jumping into snowbanks when he was not yet a teenager, resulted in a badly broken femur which left him immobile for 6 months, cast up to his chest. In his typical fashion, when recounting that experience, he just chuckled and said he sure got a lot of reading done.
In 1944, John left his engineering studies at McMaster University to enlist in the Canadian Army (Engineers). The war in Europe ended before he was sent overseas, and so he re-enlisted for the war with Japan. Having been selected to work in Intelligence, he was about to start Japanese language training in British Columbia when World War II ended. John’s brother Robert, who enlisted in the RCAF at age 16, was killed in action in 1944. His youngest brother, Louis, passed away in 2013.
Toward the end of the war, at a dance for enlisted persons, John met the great love of his life—Betty Alberta Fleming. They married in 1948 and soon moved to northern Ontario where he began his teaching career in Timmins, Capreol, and Hornepayne. With only two years of teaching experience in Timmins, John became Principal of the Capreol grade 1-13 school in the early 1950s.
Returning to Toronto in the mid-1950s with two children and one on the way, John continued with his teaching career. Much of this was at Vincent Massey Collegiate in Etobicoke where he taught mathematics and served as Department head and then Vice Principal. He enjoyed those years immensely, and a generation of students deeply appreciated his teaching and kindness. In the 1970’s, he obtained his Master’s in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE).
Notwithstanding his skills as a math teacher and Vice Principal, what he accomplished outside his teaching life is most remarkable. Dad’s combination of energy and skill at pretty much everything he set his mind to was legendary. With wood, he was a master–from boat building to house and cottage construction and renovations, and to fine woodworking later in his life. His beautifully intricate intarsia graces the walls of many dozens of lucky homes beyond his children’s and grandchildren’s. While the family was still young, he spent months building a colour television set which became the family set for many years. A few years later, he turned his basement workshop into a dark room and created stunning photographs after taking a correspondence photography course. Then the darkroom became a highly productive wine and beer making operation. In the 1970’s, Dad bought a stripped-down Ford Econoline van with standard transmission and turned it into a classic camper van, complete with red shag rug, bed, table, sink and propane stove—a van which he and Mum then took on cross-continent camping trips east, west and south.
Dad never stopped, but he also never rushed. How he accomplished so much while always maintaining his relaxed and wonderfully good-humoured demeanor is a kind of human mystery. And beyond being a craftsman and creator — beyond his capacity in Betty’s words “to fix anything” — he was a deeply kind, loving, and engaged father, always up for fun and adventure. For his children and grandchildren, he was a role model for how to live the good life. The month before he died, he said to one of his grandchildren, “I wish I could get up and do things”, but then after a pause, he gently added, “but I guess I’ve done a lot.»
John and Betty retired from their teaching careers in their early 60’s. Selling the family home in Etobicoke, John then designed and built a home on the shores of Sturgeon Lake, near Lindsay, Ontario. John commuted an hour and a half every day for about 6 months from their cottage to complete the house. That was Dad enjoying retirement! Which he and Betty did to the fullest with long summers at their beloved cottage and winter trips to Florida and Arizona, as well as to Europe and the East Coast to visit their kids and grandkids.
In 2013, Mum and Dad moved into a retirement home as Mum’s health was beginning to decline. Dad was a generous and tireless caregiver for Mum, and was at her side when she died in January, 2021. In February of 2023, after much characteristic concern that he didn’t want to “be a burden”, Dad agreed to move in with his eldest daughter Elaine and her three children Alexandra, Rachael, and Ben. It was there that we gathered in late March of this year to celebrate his 100th birthday, and it was there that he peacefully died before dawn on November 29. The rest of his family is enormously grateful for the wonderful home and loving care that Elaine’s family provided him for the last year of his extraordinary life.
Wednesday November 29 2023
Décès pour la Ville:Lindsay, Province: Ontario
avis deces John Pickering Wednesday November 29 2023
nécrologie John Pickering Wednesday November 29 2023
Nous offrons nos plus sincères condoléances à la famille et aux amis de John Pickering Wednesday November 29 2023 et espérons que leur mémoire pourra être une source de réconfort pendant cette période difficile. Vos pensées et vos mots aimables sont grandement appréciés.