Dr. John Dennis Hundleby died in Guelph on May 12, at the age of 92. He was a beloved husband, father, brother, and grandfather; a dedicated research psychologist and teacher; and an avid tennis player.
After graduating from University College School in the UK, John spent two years in the post-war RAF, and went on to Edinburgh University, where he earned an M.A. in Psychology and received the Bruce of Grangehill medal in Philosophy. John worked for the BBC, then emigrated to the U.S. to work at The Pennsylvania State University and complete a Ph.D. He worked in measurement and testing research at the University of Illinois, then taught at the City College of the City University of New York and at New York University. In 1969 he joined the Psychology Faculty at the University of Guelph, from which he retired as Professor Emeritus in 1993. While publishing widely in personality development, addiction, delinquency, and desistence, he conducted a notable 25-year study of boys in Training Schools, held a visiting appointment at LSE, and served as Stanley Knowles Distinguished Visiting Professor at Brandon University, MB. John was a member of the professional psychology associations in the US, Britain, and Canada and of the Society for Multivariate Experimental Psychology. One of only two Canadians at the inaugural meeting of the Society for Research in Adolescence in 1979, he founded the Society for the Advancement of Research on Adolescence in Canada and established the SARAC Bulletin to promote awareness of the area and the contributions of Canadians in the field. John worked tirelessly to guide his many graduate and undergraduate students through psychological and statistical research. All knew him to be, as one student said, “the last honest man" and, as many colleagues noted, “a true gentleman”.
John is survived in Canada by his wife, Margaret, daughters Catherine, Jennifer (Richard Anthony), and Sarah, and grandchildren Rhiannon and Ffion Anthony, and in the UK by his sister Marion Hundleby and niece Kathleen Houlton.Cremation has taken place. There will be a ceilidh in celebration of his life when we are again able to gather to remember him. Arrangements entrusted to the WALL-CUSTANCE FUNERAL HOME & CHAPEL, 519-822-0051 – Condolences can be sent to the family via the funeral home website below John’s notice.
In John’s memory, please consider a contribution to the HHT Foundation (curehht.org) or the Guelph General Hospital (gghfoundation.ca/in-memory/).A tree will be planted in memory of John D. Hundleby in the Wall-Custance Memorial Forest, University of Guelph Arboretum.