John Kende

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of John Kende on Friday, June 13, 2025, in Canmore, Alberta, at the age of 88 years. John had recently returned home to live independently after an extended hospital stay.

John was born in Budapest, Hungary shortly before WWII, the events of which would affect him profoundly for the rest of his life and leave him as a young boy without his father. In 1956, a revolution came to Hungary when John was in the countryside working as a land surveyor. At his mother’s urging, John left Budapest on his birthday to walk out of the country with ‘just a piece of sausage’ in his pocket.

On arriving in Vancouver, his surveying experience was in high demand and John added more skills to become an industry-recognized cartographer. John and Eva met in Toronto on something of a blind date, moving to Winnipeg shortly afterwards. They welcomed a son, Leslie, before moving to Edmonton and eventually Calgary.

A Bow River flood and the mapping of the dike in the 1970’s first brought John to Canmore. In 1986, John and Eva moved to Canmore permanently. John was always fascinated by politics, applying his technical perspective and dogged personality to the problems of municipal development, which culminated in election to council for 1 ½ terms. Even after leaving council, John dedicated his efforts to issues and developments in Canmore, often asking questions of process and insight in council session.

John is survived by his son Leslie (Ruth), grandsons Noah and Anthony, as well as his cousin Kati and her family in Budapest.

A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a later date for mid-August in Canmore.

For those who wish to donate in memory of John, we gratefully direct you to the Myasthenia Gravis Society of Canada. Donations can be made directly through their website at https://mgcanada.org/donate/.