John Walter Stinson

In loving memory of a life well-lived and deeply cherished.

Obituary

It is with great sorrow that we announce the sudden passing of our most beloved patriarch, John Walter Stinson on Friday, September 20, 2024 at the age of 80 years. John was a man of strong principles who believed you didn’t have to be educated to be bright.

John was born in Montreal on April 16, 1944, the son of Eleanor and Walter Stinson and beloved brother of Jane (Bill Flavelle) of Atlanta, Georgia. He was so proud to be the Grandson of a large animal veterinarian (Dr. Peter O’Hara) in Manotick, Ontario.

John loved his family more than anything. He was a devoted husband to Janet (nee Watson) for 49 years, and a supportive father of Jennifer (Rourke Haggith), Jordan, and Jacqueline (Jeff D’Silva). He also adored his Grandchildren River, Abbey, Story, Oxford, Marigold, and a 6th on the way.

John met Janet when they both were working at Gulf Oil Canada, and they married in 1975. Soon after, they were transferred to London, England where John worked for the Gulf Eastern Hemisphere. After 2 & a 1/2 years, he was offered a position with Gulf Oil in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He enjoyed those experiences and the people he met immensely but after 5 years was offered a job with Gulf back in Toronto. This led to an opportunity for him to work for TransCanada Pipelines as Vice President of Human Resources,
where he oversaw the relocation of TransCanada’s Head Office to Calgary, Alberta in 1989. He was there until his retirement when he opened his own search firm, Virtual HR.

While John was a humble man, he was a very accomplished and recognized individual both within his local and corporate community. He loved people and met many from executives to politicians all over the world. He was a Big Brother in his early years. John spent his summers while at University working at Chateau Lake Louise where he had the thrill of seeing the Maharishi and The Beatles, which he often reminisced about. He did his MBA at McMaster University in one year and was the youngest Vice President at 39 that TransCanada Pipelines had ever hired.

Among his many accomplishments, he served in municipal politics as a Councillor with Rocky View County from 1998 to 2001, and he also worked as a Trustee with the Rocky View Schools. He was the first Chairman of the Calgary Regional Partnership in 1991, served on the senate of the University of Calgary, the Western Advisory Committee at Carleton University and served on the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Canada board. He also worked with a not-for-profit organization called Centrepoint. One of John’s proudest achievements was being awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for community service in 2012.

In recent years, John found joy in reflecting on his many adventures that he shared with his family. John & Janet had many wonderful experiences together having their first daughter in London, England, and son Jordan and daughter Jackie in Pittsburgh. When they moved to Calgary, they built their home on an acreage in Springbank where they lived for 25 years before relocating to Cochrane. He loved reading everything political. He loved his garden and his birds. He especially loved his cat, Mocha. He enjoyed the small town feel of Cochrane where he knew all the merchants at the local shops and they knew him.

John loved people and people loved him. We’ve lost one of the best.

The family will hold a private family gathering at Eden Brook Cemetery to celebrate our husband, father and grandfather and the incredible life that he led.

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