John Sheppard Walton, or “J.S.” as we all knew him, has gracefully exited the Board room after many years of superlative governance. His 91 year old corporation stood the test of time and served him well, but in the end, as most entrepreneurs do, he merged with a greater power.
Although many other cherished members of his Board have since been lost to similar mergers, J.S. has been able to enjoy the local love and support of his two sons, Ross and Stuart, for many years. Collectively referred to as “The Porks” by J.S. during their formative years, his boys meant everything to him as they followed their own life journeys that eventually lead them back to him in Victoria.
J.S. began his own journey in the remote environs of Chicoutimi, Quebec where his family forged a life in the pulp and paper towns owned by the Price Brothers. Survival meant not only battling the elements, but gaining peer respect with the French Canadians both on the hockey rinks and in the school yards. For his high school years, John was sent to Ridley College, a traditional English boarding school in St. Catharines, Ontario, the same venue his own father had attended decades earlier, and the same venue that his own sons would attend decades later. He went on to secure a degree in Civil Engineering at McGill University which he nimbly navigated while attending late night performances of the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Oscar Petersen. After a brief stint at the University of Toronto Law School where he saved the world from one more lawyer, J.S. emerged from his university years unharmed and victorious, with a new bride in arm. It was this stretch of life from Northern Quebec all the way through to Montreal and Toronto that John spoke most fondly about later in life.
Freshly launched into the fast growing, post-war industrialized world, J.S. was expertly supported by beloved (and now departed) wife Joan (nee Watson). With her at his side, he took his special brand of life on the road: St. Adele, PQ (fun while it lasted); L’lIe Perrot, PQ (Robertson Irwin, Engineer); Welland, ON (Atlas Titanium, Marketing Mgr); Montreal, PQ (Canadian Liquid Air, Executive VP); London, UK (Amalgamated Metals Corp, President); Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Brascan, Director); Calgary, AB (Westmin Resources, CEO); and Vancouver, BC (Placer Dome, CEO, Endeavour Capital, CEO). Even when J.S. eventually retired to Victoria in 1990, his “hobbies” included chairing the Boards of the 1994 Commonwealth Games, the Victoria Hospice Society and holding a Board seat with the Royal BC Museum. He was appointed Honorary Doctorate of Laws at the University of Victoria, Honorary Governor of the Victoria Foundation and was a recipient of both the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award. Always the true captain of industry, JS also sat on the Boards of MacMillan Bloedel and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
And yet despite all these fine achievements, the most enduring mark that J.S. will leave with all of his family and friends will be his zest for life and heart of gold. J.S. was an avid golfer and club member, not just at Victoria Golf Club, but at The Lakes in Palm Desert, Gavea Golf Club in Rio de Janeiro, Foxhills Country Club in England, Shaughnessy Golf Club in Vancouver and Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec. J.S. hosted countless Walton friends and family golfing and social events at these venues where so many memories were made. J.S. had an irresistible and contagious laugh, that seemed to go forever. He was generous in spirit and in means. He led by example, but his excellence was always matched with kindness, humour and civility. His two sons have often remarked that if J.S. had been their age, and they met in university, they would’ve been fast friends for life. There is a saying that a man is at his happiest when he is on his way to becoming who he is to be. J.S. never stopped becoming who he was to be. That was his secret to happiness.
John will be loved and forever remembered by his sons Ross (Krystina) and Stuart (Natascha), grandkids Kate, Jack, Charlie, Colin, Rowan, Rune and Freya, nephews Michael and Christopher, nieces Laurel, Kim, Jennifer, Jill, Julie, Kara and Kristin, brother-in-law Jim, sister-in-law Bev, cousins Bill, Doug, Nadia and Ellen, wonderful friend Ruth and so many other friends and relatives around the world.
Funeral services for John will be held at 11:00am PST, Friday June 10th, 2022 at Christ Church Cathedral, 930 Burdett Avenue, Victoria, BC.
Reception to follow at 12 noon PST at Victoria Golf Club, 1110 Beach Drive, Victoria, BC.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Victoria Hospice victoriahospice.org/.
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of John Sheppard Walton December 7 1930 May 28 2022..
mccall gardens funeral and cremation service
Death notice for the town of: Victoria, Province: Colombie britanique