With profound sadness we said goodbye to John. He will be deeply missed by; wife Judith, daughters Ellen and Margaret and son John (Cheyenne) as well as his mother, Marylyn, brothers Lawrence and David and sister Theresa (Derek) and nephews Alex, Justin, Eric, Ethan, Nolan, Kevin, Shaelyn, Joey, Dennis, Alex, Jake, Charlotte, Violette. In-laws; Melanie (Todd) Masters, Wesley (Kathy) Anderson, Cathy (Ian) Anderson.
Born November 7, 1967, in Alberta, John moved to British Columbia in 1968. He was a brilliant man with many interests and hobbies.
Sharing a love of astronomy with his grandpa he joined the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in his youth. He continued this passion after graduating with his master’s degree from the University of Victoria by working at the Hertzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre developing instruments for observatories, as well as travelling around the world to install and maintain them. John was one of the engineers on the MOST microsat and the GHOST spectrograph.
John started violin at four and never stopped. His longtime friend and colleague Frank Younger encouraged him to join the Juan de Fuca Orchestra where he played for over twenty years, during which time we could hear him playing at all hours of the night when he was cramming for a concert.
John hunted almost every year with his father and brothers, and later his kids and nephews. He was an avid shooter and a member of the Saanich Rod and Gun Club where he would practice weekly.
“Scouter John” was a Cubs/Scouts/Venturers leader for ten years and was deeply committed to sharing his love of the outdoors. He encouraged the kids to join so they could use the boats at 12th Garry Oak Sea Scouts and proceeded to make sure the boats were used and maintained. He tried to go on all the camping trips and events, enjoying his time as a Scouter to the fullest.
He married Judith in 1999, and their three children were the joy of his life. He bought far more Lego than one family needs and when the kids outgrew Lego he shifted to building models, pottery, ham radios and cars. He enjoyed building and installing around the house an assortment of antennae including a 40m antenna which reached most of the way around the world.
Exploring and learning about the world around him and sharing his discoveries with family, friends and colleagues was his gift to those that knew him. John was truly an amazing man and will be deeply missed.
A Celebration of a Life well lived will be held in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive, Victoria, BC on Friday, July 10 at 2:00pm. For those who are unable to attend in person and wish to attend via zoom, please use: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81115065668?pwd=P6gb9rWr2rATLVMii5gccApoecEprP.1
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens
This obituary is the property of the “Pazder” family and may not be reproduced, distributed, or altered in any way without prior written consent.
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Tom Benedict
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Tim Hardy John was a brilliant and fun person to work with, who had an infectious enthusiasm and curiosity. We both started at NRC around the same time, and I had many interesting conversations with him over the years, covering an astonishingly wide variety of subjects, about which he always had intelligent and informed opinions. He humbly offered helpful advice on everything from financial planning to management and home maintenance – sometimes at greater length than I had the appetite for at the time, but always with kindness and his typically cheerful demeanor. I will miss him.
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Carol-Ann Welch 12th Garry Oak Sea Scouts are profoundly sad at Scouter John’s passing.
He was a bright light for our group and the whole of Cascadia Council/Scouts Canada.
He will be missed each and every time we camp, sail, boat or chat around a campfire. His knowledge will be shared by scouters and youth he mentored over the many years.Thank you to the Pazder family for sharing John with us. Johnny/Maggie we are with you in our thoughts during this time of grieving.
On behalf of 12th Garry Oak Sea Scout Group
Carol-Ann Welch, Group Commissioner
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Paula Cain and family Dear Judith and family,
We send our sincere condolences and think of you at this difficult time.
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Ivan Wevers My Condolences with John’s passing, it is with great sadness to learn of his loss. John was an extraordinary talented person and working with John was a delight with the many technical discussions.
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Lee Gabel I have many fond memories of John. He was the first friend I made when I moved to Victoria in 1977. He taught me how to make smoke bombs, gun powder, and how to use them safely. He’s the only person I’ve known that built a particle accelerator in his basement. His analytical, ever-curious mind always impressed me. And while we chose different paths after high school, when we did reconnect on occasion over the years, it was like we had pressed pause on our friendship, like nothing had changed between us except time. His passing is such a deep and expansive loss, and far too soon. The Earth and the stars beyond shine a little less brighter now. To Judith and your family, you have my sincere condolences.
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Jeff Popham I am so sorry for your loss. John was a fine man. We spent many enjoyable evenings around the campfire after the Cubs had settled in their tents. We’ll miss him at camps, messing around with boats and his local knowledge of Cadboro Bay. My deepest condolences to the family.
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Arthur Family We were very upset to learn of the passing of John. We knew John through Scouts. Richard, Alex and Édouard enjoyed many interesting hikes, kayak and boating adventures with John and respective Scout groups. As neighbours, we would often see John outside working on his car or some other mechanical invention. We truly enjoy discussing John’s experience of working at various astronomy centres around the world. He was a highly intelligent gentlemen, who gave a lot of his private time to help youth in Scouts as well as an amazing family man. He will be dearly missed.
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André-Nicolas Chené I am already missing John deeply. Everybody agrees here in Hilo that he seemed to enjoy everything in life!
I’d like to thank John for having been such a great collaborator, an inspiring colleague and simply a friend. I owe him for introducing me to instrumentation, the hotel Manago and the Lego movie song!
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Cringle family We moved in down the road from John and his family a couple of years ago. We are so sad to learn of his passing. We really enjoyed the occasional chat with John as he would walk by- he was always so friendly with something interesting to chat about. What a beautiful obituary. Sending our sincere condolences to your family.
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Correne Antrobus Judith and Family,
I am so sorry to hear of John’s passing. Far too young.
Correne Antrobus
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Paolo Spanò I was truly saddened to learn of John’s passing. John had been my boss while I lived in Victoria. But he was so much more than that. I still remember when he selected me to join his team. He was very happy about it. I still remember his smile when, in the pouring rain at the end of November, I confirmed that I would be leaving Italy to work with him. At the time, I had no idea how fortunate I had been to meet him. My three years in Victoria were a constant discovery of his inexhaustible talents, interests, knowledge, and abilities. He always encouraged me to dare, to never give up, to aim high. And to have faith in myself, even when I didn’t have any. He was a discreet yet essential presence. I will always carry these gifts with me.
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Kathy Strain So sorry to hear of John’s passing. He was always positive, with a fantastic sense of humor. So proud of his family.
John taught me photography, another one of his many talents. My deepest condolences, he will be missed
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Thomas Tadsen I’m so very saddened to learn of John’s passing. He was truly a uniquely brilliant guy and a great friend. Deepest condolences to Judith and the whole Pazder family.
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Greg Barrick I am deeply saddened by this news. I worked with John extensively over the years and was always amazed at the depth of his knowledge, his creativity, and his overall abilities. However, the most important thing for me with working with John on projects for CFHT was that regardless of what was going on, he made working on the projects fun.
He will be greatly missed by me and everyone here at CFHT. An amazing person has left the world.
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Cindy Kutyn It is with deep sadness that we remember John, a valued member of our graduate community.
As the Graduate Program Assistant at UVic, I had the privilege of getting to know John throughout his time in our program. He was always kind, thoughtful, and dedicated to his studies. His presence will surely be missed.
My heartfelt condolences go out to John’s family, friends, all those whose lives he touched. May you find comfort in the memories you shared and in the lasting impact he made on those around him.
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Diane M M Harrison-Slack Judy and family I am so saddened to hear of your husband and fathers passing love and hugs to all of you xoxo
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Sameer Ratti Deepest condolences to the Pazder family on this tragic news. Thank you for sharing John’s story above – sending you strength and thinking of you all during this difficult time.
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Janine Sebastian I was always amazed that while John could keep up with scientific geniuses, he could also reframe something complex in a way that the person he was talking to could understand. His passion for his work, his interests, and his family was something I always looked up to. His interest in learning about the world around him was infectious, and he could turn a family day at the beach into a hunt for treasure, a search for fossils, a lesson on sea life, or more likely, all three.
He will be greatly missed.
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Chris & Hennie Aikman John was most brilliant and kind. He will be greatly missed.
I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with John on the GRACES project. He brought such an incredible sense of fun and humor to everything and every day. Even during one of the most stressful stages of the project, he kept us all smiling and in good spirits with his ready smile and his quirky sense of humor. I miss you, John.