John Gordon was born in the family home in Ingersoll on May 3, 1934. He joined older sister Shirley and his parents Gordon and Violet (Groves) Petrie. In the early years, John’s family lived with his grandparents and developed a special bond with all of them. John often tagged along with Grandpa Groves to the lawn bowling greens where he would sit quietly (at the age of 3) and take in the action. John attended Victory Memorial Public School in Ingersoll, and it was during these years that he began delivering the London Free Press throughout town. At the age of 8, John and cousin Jimmy Miller, joined the Ingersoll Town Band, playing the trumpet. John’s mother Violet, was an accomplished musician and encouraged John every step of the way. John vividly remembered parading through town playing music with friends on the day World War II ended, as family, friends, neighbours and the community celebrated. In time he began getting music lessons at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, so the talent was there! He then started attending music competitions, whereby his mom would accompany him on the piano. In his last competition, at the age of 12, sadly his mom was unable to accompany him. John excelled nonetheless and finished 2nd in the competition. His age group was 21 and under (yes you read that right) and he played with a complete stranger. John was truly a musical talent! He enrolled in high school at Ingersoll Collegiate Institute, and took a job delivering for Hawkins Butcher Shop.

In the summer of 1950, John’s life forever changed when the Smith family moved into a home kitty-corner from the Petrie residence. The Smiths had a daughter John’s age, named Frances Mae, and John was quick to introduce himself. John walked Fran to school on her first day of Grade 11 and their relationship never looked back. In later years they both admitted that they lived so close that they could even see in each other’s bedroom windows. 🙂 During his high school years, John enjoyed playing basketball, football, and was a member of the track team and rifle club. Upon graduation, John was accepted into the University of Western Ontario where he studied Sciences. John’s parents had encouraged him to be a doctor and also bought him a car so he could commute to school from home. This meant that John drove a number of kids to school daily, including Fran. During the summer months, he worked for the local Beaver Lumber in London doing deliveries. John and Fran were married on Saturday, October 30, 1954 (Halloween night).

The Petrie family soon began to grow with the arrival of Debby in 1955. John graduated from Western in 1956 and immediately began teaching. The family relocated to Waterford, where John began teaching at Waterford District High School in the fall of ’56. Sue was welcomed into the family in 1956 as well, with Dick and Wendy completing the family in 1961 and 1964 respectively. John was a valuable member of the Science Department, often teaching Physics and Biology. He soon rose through the ranks and became the head of the Science Department. Unfortunately, each summer John had to return to the classroom himself and attend summer school. This was due to the fact that he had been able to fast-track in becoming a teacher and therefore had to catch up on his education during the summer. So for six weeks, he and some buddies called a frat house in downtown Toronto home. As you can imagine the stories from these times were often priceless. The weekends and remaining weeks of the summer were spent with Fran and the kids at the family cottage on Bogie’s Beach north of Goderich.

In 1968, John’s hard work and education paid off, when he accepted the position of Vice-Principal at Chesley District High School. The Petrie’s moved to Chesley that summer, and called Chesley home. Who knew then that this would be John and Fran’s home for the next 50+ years. Many locals recall seeing John walking to and from school enjoying his beloved pipe. In 1973, John moved onto the vice-principal role in Kincardine District Secondary School where he remained until 1985. His final VP placement was in Port Elgin at Saugeen District Secondary School where he worked until his retirement in 1990. Throughout these years, John enjoyed giving back to the students and coached a variety of high school sports. He was well-liked and respected by his colleagues and more importantly by his students. As a VP you can understand that he didn’t always see some students on their best days, but he was fair and earned their respect. Over the years, countless former students would take time out of their busy schedules to stop in at the Petrie home and visit with him and Fran. He truly treasured these visits.

John was not all work and no play. When the kids were younger he was a member of the Waterford Hunting Club, and often took Debby and Sue (and the dog of course) hunting with him. The girls have wonderful memories of these special times in the bush with their father. John also enjoyed fishing and canoe trips. There were many trips north over the years to take in a variety of different waterways. Dick and Wendy enjoyed a canoe trip or two with their father, especially exploring different areas of Algonquin Park. Dick recalled a fishing trip whereby he and friend, Bert, joined dad on Golden Lake. The weather soon turned and the clouds opened up. John went to start the boat only to find that one of the boys lines was completely wrapped around the propeller. By the time he fixed this problem, he turned around to find the other boy had reversed his entire line around his reel. He never lost his temper, but instead helped the child fix his line before heading home for the night. To say they were all a little wet would be an understatement! 🙂 All the kids enjoyed exploring nature with their dad, and fondly recall countless memories of these adventures together. They all agreed, as a father, John was indeed ahead of his time in many respects and they treasured their time with him.

John was also known to be quite the handyman. It could be electrical, plumbing, or a simple task around the house, no task was too big or small for John. In addition to completing many upgrades to their own family home John also helped renovate the family cottage numerous times. Woodworking was also a passion of John’s. He just loved working with wood. He built a variety of things for family and friends through the years and continued to give back to his community. One way of doing this was by building the sets for upcoming theatre productions at the Bijou in Chesley. Like many from John’s era, no material went to waste as every scrap was kept in case it was needed in the future. Much of this talent was passed down to Dick, as they often worked side-by-side. As you can understand in recent years the roles reversed a bit, but in true John fashion he was always happy to lend his support when needed. He also gave of his time at the annual Water Festivals held yearly in Chesley. Along with Fran he volunteered with Blood Donor Clinics as well as Meals on Wheels.

John enjoyed travelling from a young age. In the early years there were regular trips to Niagara Falls and Port Burwell. Each year, for many years, the family would drive out to B.C to visit his Uncle Doc, no small task when you consider the cars of that era. Retirement however, afforded them the true freedom to visit Wendy more regularly in New Zealand. They began doing the long journey every other year at first, but soon were drawn to make the trip on a yearly basis, with their last trip in 2018. John and Fran absolutely loved New Zealand spending each February and March enjoying the country’s beauty. Due to their frequent trips, in time they became true members of the community, with people still asking about them to this day. They even had a doctor there. John even helped renovate Wendy and Kelvin’s home! While there they loved the restaurants, going to plays, musicals & hearing the Napier Scottish Pipe Band play. John’s highlight was going to Horse of the Year, an international horse show. He was a great photographer, however most of his pictures were of the horse show! Being the photographer, you didn’t see him in a lot of pictures, ha! New Zealand was truly in John’s heart!

John liked good food and a nice restaurant. His meal of choice was always Liver & Onions, which could be splashed down with a gin and tonic. He enjoyed reading the newspapers daily, always completing the crossword puzzle. John was also an avid reader, with his own library (his kids words, not mine! 🙂 with mysteries being his favourite. As mentioned earlier, he loved his music, and enjoyed listening to the likes of the Big Band era and Classical. He and Fran often attended musicals when their schedules allowed it. He was also fond of animals. Name me another individual that took up horseback riding at the young age of 65? Within a year he bought his own horse, and continued riding, often daily, until the age of 80. He also loved his cats. They provided him constant entertainment and companionship.

John will be remembered as a true family man. Always putting his wife, children and grandchildren before himself. He was extremely loyal and had a great sense of humour. Many agree that John gave the best hugs, and he shared many of those with friends and family through the years.

Sadly, Fran died in 2019, and a part of John died with her. In the months following he was supported by his loving family and friends, making the most out of his days, despite his own declining health. However, John was not one to complain and carried on the best way he could. John died suddenly on Monday, August 24, 2020 in his 87th year.

Loving father of Debora Hickling of London, Susan (John) Schlorff of Bruce Township, Richard (Gail) of Kitchener and Wendy (Kelvin) Bentley of Napier, New Zealand. John will live on in the hearts and minds of his grandchildren Amy (Corey), Lindsay (Dave), Sara, Kevin (Ashlee), Cameron, Matthew, and great-grandchildren Hannah, Payten, Tristen, Carter, and Leigha. He was predeceased by his wife Fran, sister Shirley Schultz and his parents Gordon and Violet (Groves) Petrie.