December 30, 1930 – December 13, 2011
John died at home in Victoria, BC after a courageous battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Sue of 52 years, daughters Penny (Ian), Kit (Jeremy) and Merion (Dave), and grandchildren Eric and Julia. Born and educated in England, he served with Royal Signals in Germany, Korea, Hong Kong, Borneo, and Britain. Having been Chief Instructor at the Army Outward Bound School in Wales, John’s outdoor adventure and leadership skills led him to emigrate with his young family to British Columbia, where in 1969 he started the first Canadian Outward Bound School near Keremeos. He was executive director with Outward Bound before working for the BC government Sports and Recreation Ministry. John was an active windsurfer, canoeist, SCUBA diver/ instructor and hiker. He committed huge amounts of time to digital map making, preserving recreation land use areas, preparing and presenting multimedia workshops, and travelling the world (SE Asia, E. Europe, Africa, Bermuda) consulting for Outward Bound International. He will be remembered for his positive, energetic and practical outlook on all challenges he faced.
Thank you to all our good friends, VIHA and Hospice for their care and support. A celebration of John’s life will be held at McCall Brothers on Friday, December 30, at 2:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Victoria Hospice, Outward Bound Canada or the Land Conservancy of BC. Condolences may be offered to the family below.
38 Responses
I first met John in 2009 when he came over to Malaysia to do the safety review for Outward Bound Malaysia and almost immediately I was awed by his enthusiasm and passion for the outdoors.
Surprisingly felt so close to him as if have known him for many years!
I was so excited when Outward Bound International wanted to send him again and a message came from him on 17th September “Dear Ahmad,Thank you for your understanding and supportive message which I much appreciate.
It is a blow which I hope can quickly be dealt with, though probably having to reschedule the review yet again will be a pain.
I certainly will keep in touch and I wish you every success with your mobile courses. It was fun being involved with the initial exploration.
Yours in the hope that this will not have caused too much disruption in your life and that of the School, John.”
Just see how strong he was……..a great man and will always be my mentor…Rest in Peace, my friend..
John was really inspiring and encouraging person for us, new OB family member.
Indeed a sad day for the entire OB family.
Vladimir Mesaric
Executive Director
Outward Bound Croatia
Dear John,
“To live in hearts you leave behind is not to die”
We in OB Malaysia will miss you!
John was hugely respected around the world for his Outward Bound service. In the last decade he was my most prolific volunteer; doing countless Program Reviews in Asia and Africa; giving strategic planning advice; developing a quality improvement process now used worldwide by Outward Bound and becoming the wiki-maestro, collecting knowledge of how to deliver excellent programs.
John was always ready for a new challenge, flexible and creative in his approach, not deterred by obstacles and never seeking the limelight for his considerable achievments. A true servant-leader, John will be missed but never forgotten by those of us who knew him.
Ian Wade
Executive Director
Outward Bound International
I was so sad to hear of John’s passing. I always watched for him at my meetings and braced myself for his strong, honest and sincere opinons and constructive criticisms .
There is no question that John, more than any other person had the greatest influence on my decision regarding the Juan de Fuca Trail. I will miss his wisdom and council.
It was an honor knowing him.
Mike Hicks
Regional Director
Juan de Fuca
I only met John about a year ago as we worked together to defeat a proposal to build hundreds of cabins, other buildings and infrastructure along 16 kms. of the Juan de Fuca trail, so loved by John. He galvanized the campaign with his spirit, energy, persistence and research. He urged us all on and left no stone unturned in this struggle, contacting the decision-makers and, ultimately, convincing them to reject the proposal. Despite his hard-hitting words, he was admired and respected by all. John did all this as one of the final acts of his life, knowing throughout that he was facing a terminal illness. His life continues to inspire as a beacon for the protection of the wild.
I have known John for a relatively short period of time but he was the type of person who made an immediate impact on first meeting. His concern for the environment, coupled with his involvement in the hiking community made him a key figure in opening up and documenting trails while working with organizations such as Protect Our Parks to ensure that our unique wilderness would be protected. I’ll remember him for his enthusiasm, positive outlook, communication skills, but even more for his unwavering aim of preserving our natural environment here in the Victoria area.
Jim Trick
protectourparks.ca
I was shocked and deeply saddened to read in today’s Times Colonist that John had died and I want Sue and the rest of the family to know that they have my sincere sympathy.
Wenche (Solange) Hemphill
John was a true inspiration to us all.
Appropriate that there’s a Harbour Air float plane behind John in this photograph. One has the impression that he’s about to head off on another adventure. Never a dull moment in John’s life as far as I could tell.
John Taylor
(Next door neighbour for the last 5 years)