(b April 23 1921, d July 1, 2022)
John Arbuckle, 101 years of age, died peacefully in his sleep on the morning of July 1st, 2022. John is predeceased by his wife, Anne Françoise Arbuckle in 2017 and is survived by his daughter, Christine Arbuckle (Paul Berger), grandson John Dermody (Gina Nguyen), grandson Eric Dermody (Tess Daunt), daughter, Sophie Arbuckle (Arie Braude), and granddaughter Shira Braude.
John was born in Campbeltown, Scotland and served in the Royal Signal Corps under Lord Mountbatten (Battenberg) from 1943 to 1947. This was a combined Brit & American campaign in the Far East (India, Ceylon and Singapore) plus Occupation in Germany. Upon discharge, he attended the University of Glasgow and obtained a degree in French and German. He became a schoolteacher and taught in Scotland for a few years before moving to the Montreal Protestant School board in 1953. He subsequently went to teach in a one room schoolhouse in Bear Creek, Sask. A later stint moved him to secondary school where he taught French, German, Latin and Elements of Cree. He later took his MA in Linguistics at the University of Alberta where he met his wife Anne Françoise Michot. They were married June 10, 1961. Together they moved to Ithaca, NY where they both attended Cornell University in the School of Modern Languages, himself as a PhD student. In 1963, he won a Fulbright Scholarship to study dialects in various areas of India. In his prime, John could speak, read and write 7 languages including Hindi.
In 1973, John and Francoise moved to Sudbury, Ontario to teach at Laurentian University, School of Translators and Interpreters. They remained in Sudbury as active members of the community and their church, St Andrews, until 2015 when they moved in with their daughter, Christine, in Rockwood, ON.
John was an avid volunteer throughout his lifetime including volunteering for the Multicultural Society, the India Canada Association, where he was President for many years, and teaching English as a second language to many including the refugees from Vietnam.
Over the last few years, John has attended Rockwood United Church in person and later over Zoom. The family would like to thank the church, the minister, Heather Leffler, and the combined congregations of Rockwood and Stone for the tremendous care shown to John. As well, the family would like to thank our caretakers, Debbie B. and Cara B., who took such good care of John and stepped up care seamlessly as he needed it. Thank you also to our medical team, East Wellington Family Health Care, the LHIN and the homecare staff at Paramed with a special callout to Anne Marie R.
Resting at Gilbert MacIntyre and Son Funeral Home, Hart Chapel, 1099 Gordon St., Guelph where the family will receive friends and relatives for visitation on Monday, July 4, from 9:30am - 10:00am followed by a service in the Hart Chapel beginning are 10:00am. Reception to follow in the Hart Fellowship Lounge. All are welcome to live stream the service on the internet via ZOOM. Link to follow below.
As expressions of sympathy donations to Rockwood United Church or to a charity of one's choice would be appreciated by the family. Donation cards are available at the funeral home 519-821-5077 or online at www.gilbertmacintyreandson.com or at [email protected]