He will be joining his cherished wife of over 30 years, Maruja Hughes, in heaven, where they will be listening to classical music and perhaps sipping a Johnnie Walker, neat.
We are all so grateful to have had him in our lives and will miss him dearly.
He was a wonderful father, grandpa and great-grandpa to:
Debbie (Morgan), Marty (Janet), Brenda (Stephen), Sharon (Mike);
April, Hunter, Justin (Jenna), Brittany (Nathan);
Charlie, Gauge, Eli and Jackson (“look out, here comes the creepy-crawlies”);
And we can’t forget his favourite grand-fur-babies: Chief, Jazzy and Petey 😊
He will even be missed by his wonderful first wife (our mother) Joan – whom he always declared as the best euchre partner ever during the most epic euchre game of his life!
Dad loved nothing better than jumping on his Cub Cadet mower and cutting the grass around our home – right up until the day before he took ill; Our lawn will never again look as neat and trimmed.
He was a sports enthusiast – Formula One, Golf, Hockey, Baseball – especially his beloved (but beleaguered) Leafs and Blue Jays.
We had a lot of memories and wonderful times together – and there was nothing better to him than a good meal shared with lots of laughter and noise. Of course, these said meals were almost always followed by an involuntary “nap” while he was digesting ….”checking out the inside of his eyelids” . Nobody could nap like Dad – if there were Olympic medals for napping, he’d win hands down. Laying down, or sitting upright in a chair – it didn’t matter – it was lights out after a meal for him.
He was a great person to talk to – you could say anything , and it didn’t matter…. He likely couldn’t hear you anyways!! (“darn hearing aid batteries died”!) We had so many laughs over those hearing aids – it became a running joke.
He was a log cottage builder extraordinaire; but a terrible fisherman – he never caught a single fish during his times at Rice Lake (which has the most fish per acre than any other lake in Ontario – so go figure!)
He mastered the game of Sudoku, and lately of Wordle. His mind was keen and sharp, and he could hold a conversation about almost any world event at any given time – just don’t get him started on the topic of Donald Trump – his blood pressure could hardly take it!
We are all so sad to see him go. But we were lucky - We got to say goodbye to him. And he had a very special message that he shared with each of us in turn. Private messages, which meant the world to us, and we will remember forever. We love you Dad/Howard/Grandpa/GG – thank you for loving us and for all you gave to us.
At his request, Dad will be cremated and his ashes spread at his favourite places on Rice Lake, Orillia and Shelburne. We will be having a private family celebration of life at a later date.
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