John Nigel Fullbrook

Born in a house called Conway in Wokingham, England to Walter (Charlie) Charles Fullbrook and Joan Gwendylyn Lodge Fullbrook, John Nigel Fullbrook was the youngest of three brothers, including Michael, the oldest, and David, with whom John was close his whole life. As a schoolboy of considerable size, John excelled in rugby and cricket but less so in studies. He left school at a young age, enlisting in the Royal Air Force where he served as a cook, nicknamed “Lofty” for being tall and skinny. After completing his mandatory military service, John became a merchant marine on the Queen Mary and Queen Victoria, among other ocean liners, travelling the world as a roast chef and rising to the rank of Petty Officer. He met Jeannie Douglas Fullbrook at a dance at the Seaman’s Mission in New York in 1955, and together immigrated to Canada, where they bought a house on Union Street in Vancouver on funds supplemented by John’s father Charlie. Together they built a family resulting in four children.

In Vancouver John emerged as an ambitious entrepreneur. Cleaning windows and doing odd jobs out of an old van grew into London Building Maintenance, an office cleaning business he later sold to friends. He found his stride as a realtor, eventually launching Fullbrook, Bertram and Brown with offices in Vancouver and Victoria. He would later invest in property markets across the United States, including Austin, Texas, where his brother David would live, and Denver, Colorado, where John would meet his future wife Leigh Monahan Fullbrook.

In 1993 John and Leigh moved to Costa Rica and enrolled in language school, where Leigh would graduate and John would not. In those early Costa Rica years John was back in the van, serving as support crew for Leigh’s adventure tourism business. Acting as both Natural Philosopher and Tour Guide, John kept the Gringos laughing and the Van on the road while ensuring cocktails were served promptly at five. In the hills among the coffee fields of Heredia, John and Leigh found some land with an old casita on it and built a home. Together they would find a long life in Costa Rica, a house full of rescue dogs, friends and family, and the love and affection of their Tico neighbors who welcomed them into their community.

A fierce competitor, win or lose John was grace under pressure. He was outrageously funny and like a hurricane, his humour could stir it up and leave some damage. John was uniquely self-confident. He believed in a universe which endowed him with the power to manifest the path of his own remarkable life.

John is survived by his wife Leigh, his children Linda, Ross, Cindy and David, His grandchildren Michelle and Sacha, Sarah, Emily, and Nicolas, Danielle and Adrienne, and Wyatt and Blaze, with a further grandchild arriving in April, in addition to his great grandchildren, Audrey, Eleanor, Winnifred, Maisie, Harrison, Evelyn and Jude. He will endure in our memories for his love of his family, his curious intellect, and his chef’s appreciation for good food and good times.

Pura Vida!