John Allen Eaton

Predeceased by his brothers William Eaton (Betty) and Tom Eaton (Peppy). Survived by his loving wife Helen, of 72 years. Lovingly remembered by daughter Janice Beljanski, son Scott Eaton, granddaughter Echo Eaton-Thorne (Nic), and great-grandchildren Aurora and Briar.

Special thanks to the caregivers at Broadmead Veterans Memorial Lodge for taking such amazing care of John, and ensuring he got a little sippy of his whiskey every evening. Also, a special thanks to the caregivers at Saanich Peninsula Hospital who looked after him before John was transferred to Broadmead. He was in palliative care in San Pen, but survived that and got so comfortable there that he was disappointed when he was moved out. There was consolation when he was transferred to Broadmead Veterans Memorial Lodge for long term care, because he became a favourite with the caregivers due to his charming sense of humour and positive attitude.

John was born in Scotland. He had served in the war and was discharged, after which, he moved into a boarding house, picking up where he had left off. Helen’s mother ran the boarding house, and the rest is history. Later, John and Helen moved to Victoria, BC to start their new life. John started his own house painting business, and the couple had two children. Fairfield was their first home, and they moved to Cordova Bay when their home in Fairfield was bought up for development.

John was a laidback kind of guy, and Helen is very social, but that didn't stop John from happily following along with all of Helen's planning - even though he was content to just stay in with a beer and a hockey game.

After retirement, John and Helen took a six-month trip driving across Canada and returning through the states, which was the beginning of their travelling years. They loved going to new places and meeting new people; highlights include riding elephants in India, travelling through Peru, and a love for cruises.

The entire family had one last trip to Scotland to celebrate John’s 90th birthday in 2013, where they travelled to London and visited relatives including John's brother Tom in Cambridge before taking the train to Edinburgh. They continued their journey travelling via a private van operator, visiting all of the favourite places going up the coast to the north, then back down the other coast, ending in Glasgow for a big family reunion.

Favorite memories:

Helen: "Along the way we met new friends, but our Fairfield friends were always part of our lives. When John wanted to put on a special party for my 65th birthday, he turned to our Sunday School teachers (nicknamed “The Vatican girls”) to help him out, and they took me completely by surprise. It was the first time ever that they had performed the skits that became a feature of any party that we had honouring a celebrant. On top of that, he was bursting with pride because he had bought me a Toyota Tercel, and Scott had it hidden in the driveway next door. When it came time to bring the car around, Scott said that I was the only person in the room who didn’t know I was getting that car. Because John was so excited, he was practically waylaying people to tell them about this car, and his eyes were a bit glazed behind his glasses, but I was completely surprised and it was a wonderful night.

There were so many more, but my family always says that I talk too much. It is only because I have so many special memories of John that I could go on forever. I share a memory of Janice waiting for her dad to pick her up downtown, and if there were two entrances to wherever I could guarantee that they would be late in getting home, but neither of them took the blame.

To add to that, when John and I were in Las Vegas and had bought tickets for The Jersey Boys, we went to the restrooms before going to enter the theatre, and I waited and waited and got so agitated I asked a passing by attendant to check the men’s room for me, and it was empty. He couldn’t possibly have gotten past me but then I was told that the tunnel took a turn and that there was another opening at the other end and sure enough, there he was, nonchalantly waiting for me to find him.

Life was full of little events like that with John, and we could share our stories and have a good laugh together."

Janice remembers: "When it was dinner time and hockey was on, dad would always say "no arguing at the table", but you could guarantee dad would always start an argument. We would argue a bit, then continue watching hockey. Then dad would start the argument again 15 minutes later, and we would just laugh - every time, it was like clockwork."

Scott remembers: "During my first facetime visit with dad when he was at Broadmead. There was dad, all propped up in bed with his little shot of whiskey ready to socialize with a big smile."

Echo remembers: "Right up to our very last conversation on Grandpa's 97th birthday, I always admired how devoted Grandpa was to Grandma. His face lit up when he spoke of her, and he professed his love for her at every opportunity; reminding us all that she was a wonderful woman. A love story to aspire to for sure."

A celebration of life will be held later.