HENDERSON JOHN Obituary

JOHN HENDERSON McMEEKIN
C.F A. . Passed away peacefully on Friday, February 23, 2007. Survived by his wife of 58 years, Yvonne Marie (nee Giles); sons Robert Hugh (Mary) and John Bruce (Allison MacPherson); older brother Robert Wilson (Joyce); grandchildren Wesley John, Hayley Hutson, Adrienne Henderson, Ceilidh Marguerite and John (Jack) William; and nieces and nephews Kemp (Pam), Blair, Keith (Julie) and Scott McMeekin, and Helen, Virginia, Jane (Doug Densmore), David (Olga Truchan) and Susan (Rick Traugott) Scott. Predeceased by his parents, William James and Elizabeth (nee Nickels). Born in 1924 in Larne, County Antrim, John emigrated with his family to Canada in 1930, settling in Windsor. After graduating from Patterson High School, he enlisted in the RCAF serving as a radar mechanic with No. 10 (BR) Squadron (Gander) and No. 436 Squadron (Down Ampney). He was attached to RAF No. 295 Squadron (Harwell) when it dropped British and Canadian paratroopers in Overlord and towed British glider borne troops in Market Garden. Discharged in 1946, John enrolled in Victoria College at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1949 with a degree in Finance. He took a position with Imperial Life in its investment area, leaving in 1982 as Treasurer to join its property investment company, Imbrook Properties, as Executive Vice President. He was a founding member of the Tamarack Island Investment Seminar and a lifetime member of the Toronto Board of Trade. He coached youth softball, volunteered as a church youth group (TYRO) leader and Scout Master and spent numerous winter evenings timekeeping outdoor hockey games at the local rink. He volunteered his time as an investment advisor to the United Church of Canada and served on the Board of Trustees of St. Luke's United Church in Islington and on the Board of Directors of Toronto's West Park Hospital. A kind, generous, and humorous soul, we will miss him dearly. We celebrate a life well lived as a son, brother, husband, father, uncle, grandfather, friend and volunteer. Friends may call at the Turner & Porter Butler Chapel, 4933 Dundas St. W. (between Islington and Kipling Aves.) on Wednesday from 2 - 4 and 7 - 9 p.m. A Memorial Service will be held at Kingsway Lambton United Church, 85 The Kingsway, on Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 2 p.m. If desired, the family favours donations to the Canadian Diabetes Association.