John McNichol Gourley
November 24, 1933 - June 26, 2022
Peacefully on June 26, 2022, John Gourley, at 88 1/2 years of age, passed away with his family by his side.
On June 11, John suffered a stroke. He was predeceased by his wife, Sylvia (nee Cole) in 2005, his sister Phylis Sutherland in 1994, his mother Florence Thompson (nee Gourley, nee McNichol) in 1977, and his father Clarence, in 1941.
A celebration of John Gourley will be held on September 17, 2022, at the St. James Legion # 4, 1755 Portage ave from 2 - 4pm.
John was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia on November 24, 1933, and grew up in Baie Verte, with some time in Monton, New Brunswick.
He moved with his mother to Winnipeg, Manitoba, shortly after his father passed away. After moving to Winnipeg, he started his machinist apprenticeship, with the CP Railway in the Weston shop. In the mid 1960’s, he began his career at Moore Business Forms as a certified machinist in the maintenance department. He remained with Moore Business for the remainder of his working career and retired in 1994.
John married Sylvia Cole in Winnipeg, on August 22, 1958. Their wedding gift to each other was a parcel of land in Ontario, on Deception Lake, that they referred to as ‘the Lake’. John, Sylvia and their daughters would spend every weekend from the Victoria long weekend until Thanksgiving, including his 3 weeks of holidays, at ‘the Lake’.
At ‘the Lake’, John had a hobby that he enjoyed more than anything else throughout his life at the lake and that was ‘Hammock Time’. Many times, John would go out to the hammock and just swing for hours. He said he got his best ideas there. Fortunately, he was able to enjoy ‘Hammock Time’ right till his last visit to the lake.
John will be missed by his daughters, Deb (husband Rick and family), Gaye (partner Brad and family), and SueAnn (partner Joel and family).
Cremation has taken place with Neil Bardal Funeral Centre. Expression of condolence may be sent to www.neilbardalinc.com
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either Diabetes Canada or the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation.