Obituary of John McWhirter
McWhirter, John (April 7, 1940 - April 20, 2021)
It is with broken hearts that we announce the peaceful passing of John, with his daughter by his side on April 20, 2021 at the NHS-St. Catharines Site. Loving Dad to Elaine McWhirter (John O'Flaherty). Very proud Papa to Katharine and Madelene. Caring brother to Sandy (Liz) and Maureen. Beloved Uncle to Marie (Dave), Trisha (Martin), David (Dee), Anne (Les), Margaret (Robert), John (Elaine), Gary (Katrina), Jennifer (Raymond), and Trevor (Pat). Great and Great-Great Uncle to many other nieces and nephews. He will be sadly missed by his fiance Linda Herman and her family. John was predeceased by his devoted wife Sadie of almost 54 years in 2019 as well as his brother Jimmy(Jean) in the same year.
John was born in Greenock, Scotland and came to Canada in 1962 to work as a draughtsman in the Levis, Quebec shipyard. He then moved to St. Catharines in 1964 to work for the Port Weller Dry Docks, retiring as their repair manager in 2004. It was here that he met and fell in love with his beautiful wife Sadie. They were married the following year in 1965. During his career, he also worked at shipyards in Thunder Bay, Nova Scotia and New Orleans. After his retirement, they enjoyed traveling to the Dominican Republic.
John was a huge sports fan. He closely followed the Buffalo Bills, the Buffalo Sabres and especially his Greenock Morton Soccer Club. He was a long standing member of the Scottish Club as well as Queenston & St. Davids Golf Club. Here he loved both playing golf and the fellowship that was associated with it. It brought him great pleasure to walk along the canal as well the Green Ribbon Trail with Linda; they had hoped to walk trails down east this summer.
His love for his family brought him great joy. He will be fondly remembered for his kindness and sense of humor which gave him the grace and courage to deal with his devastating cancers. The family would like to send a sincere thank you to Drs Levesque and Qawi of the Walker Family Cancer Centre (WFCC) and the Staff of Ward 3B at the St. Catharines Hospital for their compassion and care. For those who wish, gifts of remembrance may be made to the WFCC or the NHS-St. Catharines Site.
In keeping with John's wishes, cremation has taken place. Arrangements have been entrusted to the GEORGE DARTE FUNERAL HOME 585 Carlton Street, St. Catharines, ON. A private family funeral service will take place in the funeral home ceremony room. There will be a Celebration of Life once gatherings are permitted. The service will be recorded and available to view after the ceremony takes place on this page.
Elaine's Eulogy for her Father:
He is such a nice man. That seems to be what everyone said who met my dad And indeed he was. He was loved dearly, for sure, but I think was so well liked – by family, friends, coworkers, my friends…..because he was genuinely interested in hearing what you had to say. He enjoyed getting to know people, listening to their stories, having a laugh with them. And he liked to tell stories: his childhood in Greenock, being a paperboy who liked to eat paper; emigrating to Quebec at 22 as a young draughtsman, renting a room from an elderly French speaking woman….he picked up more French in 2 years there than I did in 10 years of school.
I was fascinated by his giant drafting desk at Port Weller, a ship architect, with the distinct and stylized printing of his trade. I will miss seeing the cards come in with that print. It was there he met my mom, and they married a year later. They were married for almost 54 years, in a demonstration of love and devotion that will forever impact me – including reuniting after a year of separation. In the later years, when my mom’s mobility declined, he did everything – chief cook and bottlewasher….with some heavy coaching on the sidelines. Perhaps that trait came from my mom
He was smart, and he worked hard, often doing paperwork at home at night. Perhaps the apple didn’t fall far from the tree… As a repair manager, he and my mom spent some time in Nova Scotia, and a few years in Thunder Bay – where he was even able to get my mom to embrace his love of walking outside. His penchant for whistling helped him with great bird imitations. We had great walks with Candi at Balls Falls when I was a kid, and for years he walked the canal path. More recently, he shared the Green Ribbon Trail with Linda. I am not sure how many people in their 80s fall in love again, but dad had the great fortune to spend this past year with Linda. The plan was for a wedding this year, not a funeral.
He enjoyed relaxing with a good book (passing on to me all the steven king’s of the day), or watching the Bills, Sabres and golf. An avid golfer, one had to watch out when the fairway woods came out at St.David’s. He cherished the friendships with his golf buddies. A committed soccer fan, he played as a young man, and remained faithful to his. Greenock Morton, following their scores in the Scottish paper weekly. He loved kids, and coached the St.Catharines “Jags” when I was a young. Had it been possible, I am sure I would have had siblings. But in my John, he came to have a son, and many conversations about sports and life, over a wee Drambuie or glass of red wine.
After years of grass-cutting and many attempts to grow an ash tree in the backyard on Rochelle drive, I don’t think he missed the yard work much when switching to apartment living….except the BBQ. However, for many years there were the Sunday BBQ’s at Aunt Margaret’s. My dad loved when the whole family got together. There has been some great reminiscing of family gatherings over these past few days - beach cottages that predate me, basement and holiday parties. And what would be a gathering of scots without singing? We all know my dad was famous for his rendition of Green Oak Tree, but I will never forget the day I found him sitting, finger on the pause button of a tape player, pen and paper in his other hand. My mom declared we’d had enough of the Green Oak Tree – so he was preparing a new song – the famous Feelings from 1975. For my dad, as with Albert Morris, it was a one hit wonder.
My dad was patient, kind, calm and supportive “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. I heard that many times…as have my girls. I have great memories of vacations as a kid, and some wonderful trips he took with us in the past few years – to Scotland, and the Minden cottage with the floats down the river (or riverbank, as the case may be)….Greece last year being another loss from covid. While he was an incredible Dad and husband, he was the Best Papa. From joining the girls on floor when they were little to never missing a school event (there were lots of those), a dance recital or birthday – he would do anything with them or for them. Endless stomach turning roller coaster videos with Madelene, and driving Katharine up north for skiing at 5:30 AM.
Easygoing, kind, charming, hilarious, never complained, quick to smile. These are the traits that family and friends have remembered him by over the past few days. And certainly these traits, tremendous fortitude and Linda’s steadfast companionship helped him through these devastating past few months. I am so grateful to have spent these past few weeks with him, even if it was in the hospital. We’d hoped for so much more time.
He was such a nice man.
From Linda:
John, please know how much I miss you. I love you so much. I’ll miss our walks, talks and our quirky sense of humor. You were taken too soon. At least you are at peace. You will never be replaced in my heart. Love you forever.
