Ivan James St. John Herbert

Ivan was born in Derby, England on April 20, 1942. In 1958, at age 16, he struck off to see the world as a cadet with the British-India Steam Navigation Company. After almost a dozen years spent at sea, Ivan met Ilze in Wales in 1967. He followed her to the United States and they were soon married in Boston, Massachusetts in July 1968. Their honeymoon was aboard Ivan’s ship, during which they travelled to Africa and across the Indian Ocean, eventually ending up in Singapore. Shortly after their son, Glen, was born, Ivan and Ilze went to Scotland to stay with Ivan’s parents, Ken and Beryl, before emigrating to Montreal in 1971 where Ivan started his career as a marine surveyor with Universal Marine Consultants. Zenta came along in 1972 and in 1974, the young family moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia where Ivan set up a Maritimes Branch of the company. They made their new home in Bayside, near Peggy’s Cove, where they lived for 17 years. During this time, Ivan travelled around the Maritimes for his work and spent many hours in the office with Ilze preparing the survey reports. When not working, they made annual trips to Florida, spent many weekends with their adopted Bayside family at their cottages on the Northumberland Strait, ran along the rocks at Peggy’s Cove, and devoted many hours to the local soccer club. In 1991, after the kids had entered university, Ivan and Ilze moved to Bedford where they lived for the next 13 years. During this time, Ivan, who had always dabbled in wine and beer making, moved into the art in a more serious way. Together, they became involved in a vineyard shared with close family friends, Kit and Gill, in Woodside in the Annapolis Valley. Upon retirement in 2003, they moved permanently to this rural oasis, known simply as “The Vineyard.” In addition to being Ivan and Ilze’s dream home, “The Vineyard” has become so much more to so many people. One could always count on a warm welcome, with a poolside lunch, and a bottle (or a few) to accompany the food. At the many gatherings held at “The Vineyard,” Ivan could always be spotted wearing a colourful cabana shirt and his signature “short” shorts. His love of gardening, which he shared with Ilze, is apparent as you drive up the lane to their home, and everything has its place, and more often than not, a label of some type. Ivan’s greatest joys in life came from spending time with his family – Ilze, Zenta, Daniel, Glen, Karyn, his wonderful grandchildren, Lauryn, Sydney, Sam and Emile, and his parents and relatives in England and Boston – as well as growing grapes and making wine, hosting his many friends, and constantly tending to home and land. Ivan always worked hard to complete the task at hand, often atop his favorite blue tractor, and there was virtually nothing he could not do. He could usually answer any question you might have, and if he didn’t know, he would find the answer and get it to you! Ivan made an impact on everyone he met. He was a wonderful and loving husband, father, grandfather, son and friend to many. He was highly skilled and well respected in both his careers as a marine surveyor and as a winemaker.

We will miss him more than we can even imagine now, but we know that his love of life and strength of character will live on through his two greatest legacies of his family and his wonderful homestead in “The Vineyard.”

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, July 7, 1-4pm at “The Vineyard” (327 Woodside Road). All of our family and friends are invited to join us.