John Isaac

he passed away at the Abbotsford General Hospital with his son Terry and daughter Cheryl by his side. John will now be singing, along with his precious wife Hilda, the Hallelujah Chorus in the heavenly choir, with an even better tenor voice than his beautiful voice here on earth.

John was born March 21st, 1918 in the Mennonite village of Alexanderpol, Molotschna Colony, in South Russia (now Ukraine). John was born during the world pandemic of 1918, and died during a world pandemic in 2020. He was the eldest child of John and Katharina (Krause) Isaac. Those early years were difficult ones. Restricted religious freedoms, the Russian Civil War, confiscation and nationalization of property, a devastating famine, the execution of the Romanovs by the Bolsheviks, and the invasion and occupation of the Red Army in the Crimea all contributed to the Isaac family decision to immigrate to Canada. In 1924, John, his parents, his sister Mary and brother Abe, along with his paternal grandmother, two uncles and their families left Russia for Canada on the ship Minnedosa, arriving in Montreal on August 14, 1924. The family settled in Arnaud, Manitoba. His siblings, Jake, Neil, Art, David, Hilda and Katie were all born in Canada.

He attended the Empress School, situated about a mile from their family farm. He and his siblings walked to school during good weather and took a horse and buggy during the winter months. His favourite subject was mathematics.

After completing grade 8, John quit school and bought a 1936 l l/2 ton truck and did some custom hauling, mostly grain. He had numerous jobs including loading lumber on flat cars, cutting and selling firewood and working on his father’s farm.

John served as a conscientious objector during WWII, along with 3000 other CO’s in Manitoba, He worked as a farmhand in Oakville Manitoba where he was allowed to keep 50 cents a day for himself – the rest of which went towards the Red Cross.

The church played a major role in the Isaac family. On May 28, 1944, John was baptised in the St. Elizabeth Church, Manitoba.

On December 2nd, 1944, John married Hilda Sawatsky, sister of his good friend John Sawatsky. John and Hilda lived on his parent’s farm which was now their own. After three crop failures, they (along with their six-month old daughter, Cheryl) moved to British Columbia in December, 1947, purchasing a small, unfinished house on a three- acre raspberry farm on Gibson Road in Chilliwack. Their son Doug was born in 1952 and Terry born in 1958.

John worked in the hop fields, at a couple of sawmills, at a Lime Quarry, for the Wahleach Power Project in Bridal Falls, at a Massey Ferguson shop and for Butler Brothers where he worked for 15 years as a mechanic on farm machinery. He was sent to Wisconsin on his first plane ride by Butler Brothers for further training. While at Butler Brothers, he was in a very bad accident and spent 117 days in the hospital. In 1975 he started working for Friesen Equipment (a John Deere dealership) in Abbotsford and worked there for ten years. Though John was of retirement age, he continued to work, this time as manager for the Redwood Manor in Chilliwack where he worked part time for another sixteen years.

For years John was a fan of the Chicago Black Hawks but in recent years he switched his loyalty to the Vancouver Canucks. He enjoyed watching the B.C. Lions and was delighted in the summer of 2014 to meet in person, the Lion’s head coach Mike Benevides who gave John a B.C. Lion’s cap which he treasured.

John has always enjoyed music. He played violin in his youth. He had a beautiful tenor voice and sang in the Eden Church choir for many years. For twenty-five years, John, as part of an Eden Church octet travelled once a month to sing at the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver.

Even as a child, playing games was a key form of entertainment for the family. John and Hilda would play cards or dominoes nearly every evening. Keeping score was important – many books were filled with a record of scores, John winning many of the games. He loved playing “washeroos” and dominoes with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. While living at his assisted living residences, he learned to play and love the game of bocce ball.

John enjoyed reading – westerns, mysteries (in particular books by John Grisham), Christian novels, and devotional type books. He took up carpentry work, building stools, planters, and swings for his family. Besides a love for fishing, music, reading, and going for coffee, John was passionate about golfing. He took up the sport at the age of 55 and accrued a total of fifteen holes-in-one, an achievement that few can say they have. In 2002, at the age of 84, John shot a 59 at Cheam Golf course and was honoured at a luncheon for this achievement. His son Terry arranged to have John interviewed by Mike McCardell from Global TV. When Mike asked what John attributed his golfing success to, John put his right arm up towards Heaven and smiled. “The Lord looks after me.”

Along with Hilda, he was an active member of Eden Mennonite Church since 1948, having served as a Sunday School treasurer, usher and deacon.

John and Hilda enjoyed travelling – they went to numerous countries in the world, including Greece, Israel, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and many trips to Hawaii, Palm Springs and Mexico.

John was devastated when his precious Hilda passed away on March 4, 2014, after 69.5 years of marriage. Eventually he rallied and made new friends at his assisted living residence in Chilliwack. Friday evenings he spent playing crib with his buddies Tom, Wilmer and Vern. He continued going to Eden Church every Sunday, most often having lunch with his special friends until COVID-19 prevented the weekly services and getting together.

On June 9, 2020, after 72 years in Chilliwack, John moved to Tabor Court, a Mennonite assisted living facility in Abbotsford. Due to COVID-19 visitations with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were limited to window visits only. Though the staff at Tabor Court did everything they could to include their residents in activities, John had a difficult time with the isolation and physical separation from his family and friends.

John was a dearly loved son, husband, father, brother, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle and friend. He was a quiet, gentle, soft-spoken and humble man, who enjoyed the simple things in life. He was a friend to all and his family were extremely important to him. He was the kind of father who had lived so well that his children and grandchildren wanted to be like him. He taught his family through his words and actions, the meaning of love, honesty, hard work and making sacrifices. He was a sincere and devoted Christian and had a life of Christian service. Above all, he loved the Lord and was always ready to help those in need.

John was predeceased by his parents, his wife (2014), three brothers David (1942), Neil (2013) Abe (2015)), one sister Mary (1974) He is survived by his children Cheryl (Ross Davey), Doug (Lil), Terry (Glenda); five grandchildren Shawn (Verna), Sheri (Dan), Trevor (Misty), Dustin (Melissa) and Travis (Judy); 9 greatgrandchildren Davis, Julia, James, Cole, Maddie, Corey, Luke, Casey, Jay; 20 step grandchildren and great-grandchildren along with his brothers Jake (96), Art (92); sisters Hilda (90) and Katie (87) and many precious nieces and nephews.

Though he will be greatly missed, we know that he has been welcomed to the place where he belongs. A private Graveside Service was held with family in attendance.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to John’s favourite charity: MCC