John Douglas Tweedie

John liked coffee, ice cream and Leonard Cohen lyrics.  They were tastes he acquired when young and were happy indulgences right up to the end. In the last part of his life, they not only provided John with a boost but also with a respite from 15 years of decline brought on by Parkinson’s Disease.  John died the other day at the age of 71.

John always had good friends and stayed close with many of them throughout his life.  In grade school in Montreal, he had a good circle of energetic kids. In high school they matured into energetic adolescents and John made new friends.

John went to the University of New Brunswick where he graduated with a B.A. in English. Enjoying agriculture and the pleasure of planting crops and watching animals grow, he next graduated in agriculture from MacDonald College, McGill University.

He fell in love with the younger sister of one of his friends and when she went to Europe, he pursued her. It worked. John married Lynn McColl in 1974. They were together for 25 years.

During this time John switched from farming to become a skilled carpenter, renovating old houses with the eye of a perfectionist. His creativity surfaced as he found innovative and unexpected solutions to building problems. But he had to put down his tools when Parkinson’s robbed him of his ability to drive nails and put in windows.

John had a second relationship.  He and Lori Horne made a home together for about 11 years and started a family.  John said their son Spencer is “the best thing I ever did.”

John was pan-Canadian.  In addition, to Montreal and Fredericton, he lived in Toronto, Peterborough, Banff and for most of the past three decades in Victoria.  It is here he caught up with a good friend from UNB days. Bob Carfra has been a rock for both John and Spencer and a constant friend to the family.  Lynn also still lives in Victoria and has provided John with enduring friendship.  Spencer brightened John’s days just by being there.

John was predeceased by his parents, Mary (née Gall) and Frederick John ‘Ted’ Tweedie.  He is survived by Spencer, his sisters Charlotte and Kathie, his brother David (Megan Williams), his aunts Joan and Nancy and many cousins.

John asked that his ashes be buried or strewn in three places.  There will be a small remembrance and celebration of John’s life on each occasion.  John loved flowers, but would prefer that any money spent on his passing go to Parkinson Canada.  You can donate at https://www.parkinson.ca

We’ll say farewell with one of his favourite Leonard Cohen lines:

"There is a crack in everything.  That's how the light gets in."