In the loving arms of his wife Maria, and surrounded by his family, our dearest John passed away on February 19, 2023.
John was born in Schwarzach im Pongau, Austria on February 5, 1949, and at the age of five immigrated to Canada with his twin brother and mother, joining their father in Montreal. Soon after, the family made their way to Port Arthur, and John completed his formal education at Lakeview High School.
After high school, John took on a trade and worked as an insulator for the family business (Lakehead Insulation & Plastics Ltd.) and was a member of the Insulators, Local 95, retiring in 2004.
John met the love of his life, Maria in 1990 and celebrated 25 years of wedded bliss this past year.
In his early years, John was an adventurer and experienced life to its fullest; he worked as a hunting guide in Northern British Columbia, guiding many tourists on horseback into very remote regions of the province. He also had a passion for cars, especially vintage automobiles, and many locals may remember John driving his 1970 GTO Judge, and in later years his 1969 Mach I.
John appreciated nature in all seasons and loved to fish, hunt, and ride his snow machine. In his later years, he became an ardent collector of World War memorabilia and loved to proudly show off his latest acquisitions.
John was, first and foremost a family man and loved nothing more than hosting family dinners with Maria. He loved to chat on the phone and Facetime with his siblings, children and grandchildren. John was an exceptionally kind and caring man and would often stop to help or assist anyone in need.
Our brother, husband, father, uncle, and grandfather will be forever lovingly remembered by his wife Maria; Children; Kristy, Timothy, Robert (Tessa), Sister; Trudi (Kevin), Brothers; Gary, Robert (Lisa). 5 Grandchildren; Willow, Logan, Chase, Tayla, Mikayla. Loving nieces and nephews; Kathryn (Aaron), Kevin (Devan), Kaitlyn, Mitchell (Beth), Kelly (Joshua), and Mallory. Jamie (Robert), Megan, Sarah (Stephan), Adriana, Adelina (Alex), Shawn, Stacey DeLuca.
Extended loving family Uncle Walter (Janet) Reisecker and Cousin Helga Baumann (Sue), Romana (Biagio) and family, Tony and Franca DeLuca. Numerous relatives in Austria and Italy.
John was predeceased by his twin brother Walter and his parents John and Margaret. Cremation has taken place and the family will gather to celebrate John’s life on Tuesday February 28 at 11:00 a.m. in St. Anthonys Church.
The family would like to sincerely thank EMS services, the wonderful ICU staff and Nurses, Respiratory therapists, Dr. Kaitlin McCallum and Dr. Phillip George for the exceptional care, compassion and love shown to our dearest John. Thank you as well Kathryn and Aaron Giba for your loving care of John.
Rest in peace John
You are so dearly loved and will be so dearly missed.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada or as a true representation of John’s kind and loving nature perform an act of kindness for someone today.
Condolences may be made through www.nwfainc.com
