Obituary for John Charles Hoselton
John Charles Hoselton (1927-2021)
John Hoselton passed away on April 5, 2021 at Southlake Residential Care Village in Newmarket, Ontario. Surviving him are Evelyn, his loving wife of 69 years; his two sisters, Maxine (m. Ralph) and Jean (m. Jim); his three children, Stephen (m. Jacques), David (m. Brenda) and Anne (m. Rino); and his four grandchildren, Ben, Katie, Jack and Evelyn.
Born in Kingston General on September 22, 1927, John was the first child of Hazel Hawley and Charles Jasper Hoselton and in a few short years he would be the oldest of seven. The family moved to Cobourg, and it was love at first sight when John met Evelyn at a Young Peoples’ Dance at St. Peter’s Church. Years later, John returned to Kingston to attend Queen’s University, during which time he joined the military as a lieutenant in the tank corps and trained at Camp Borden in the summers. Shortly after leaving Queen’s, he and Evelyn were married and moved to Toronto, within walking distance of Casa Loma, where the honeymooners spent every Saturday night swaying to the sweet sounds of the Mart Kenney Orchestra.
To support his growing family, John worked at a variety of jobs -- cook, night watchman and yes, even mausoleum salesman -- until he landed at B/A Oil, where he stayed for 29 years. But his creative, entrepreneurial spirit wasn’t satisfied until he started dabbling in real estate. He discovered that his vision was perfectly counterbalanced by Evie’s measured advice and sound accounting skills and by the mid 70s, they had built a mini-empire, comprising over 100 rental units. Then, in 1974, at age 47, John was diagnosed with cancer and given 5 to 8 years to live. But they treated this crushing news the way they faced every dark day – by finding the silver lining. If time was running out, that only meant they needed to accelerate their plans. They sold a property and took their three kids to England. John beat the cancer but the travel bug remained and international trips became an annual event, imbuing their children with a lifelong sense of adventure, curiosity and open-mindedness.
Although John was a victim of dementia and the last few years of his life were lived in cognitive decline, we remember the other 89 years of a kind, generous, wise and wonderful man, who loved to write stories, plays and collect quotes – inspired by the ageless wisdom available to us and enthralled by the world we could enjoy if we abided by that wisdom. John loved his life and the adventure it offered; John loved his family and the undying care and support they offered. But if you take only one thing away from a life well-lived, it’s this:
John loved his Evie.
........
If you would like to make a donation in John’s name, please consider one of the following organizations:
The Terry Fox Foundation (for Cancer Research)
Southlake Residential Care Village (Newmarket long term care residence that looked after John with care and compassion for almost 4 years)
Alzheimer Society Canada (Dementia research and treatment)
John Hoselton passed away on April 5, 2021 at Southlake Residential Care Village in Newmarket, Ontario. Surviving him are Evelyn, his loving wife of 69 years; his two sisters, Maxine (m. Ralph) and Jean (m. Jim); his three children, Stephen (m. Jacques), David (m. Brenda) and Anne (m. Rino); and his four grandchildren, Ben, Katie, Jack and Evelyn.
Born in Kingston General on September 22, 1927, John was the first child of Hazel Hawley and Charles Jasper Hoselton and in a few short years he would be the oldest of seven. The family moved to Cobourg, and it was love at first sight when John met Evelyn at a Young Peoples’ Dance at St. Peter’s Church. Years later, John returned to Kingston to attend Queen’s University, during which time he joined the military as a lieutenant in the tank corps and trained at Camp Borden in the summers. Shortly after leaving Queen’s, he and Evelyn were married and moved to Toronto, within walking distance of Casa Loma, where the honeymooners spent every Saturday night swaying to the sweet sounds of the Mart Kenney Orchestra.
To support his growing family, John worked at a variety of jobs -- cook, night watchman and yes, even mausoleum salesman -- until he landed at B/A Oil, where he stayed for 29 years. But his creative, entrepreneurial spirit wasn’t satisfied until he started dabbling in real estate. He discovered that his vision was perfectly counterbalanced by Evie’s measured advice and sound accounting skills and by the mid 70s, they had built a mini-empire, comprising over 100 rental units. Then, in 1974, at age 47, John was diagnosed with cancer and given 5 to 8 years to live. But they treated this crushing news the way they faced every dark day – by finding the silver lining. If time was running out, that only meant they needed to accelerate their plans. They sold a property and took their three kids to England. John beat the cancer but the travel bug remained and international trips became an annual event, imbuing their children with a lifelong sense of adventure, curiosity and open-mindedness.
Although John was a victim of dementia and the last few years of his life were lived in cognitive decline, we remember the other 89 years of a kind, generous, wise and wonderful man, who loved to write stories, plays and collect quotes – inspired by the ageless wisdom available to us and enthralled by the world we could enjoy if we abided by that wisdom. John loved his life and the adventure it offered; John loved his family and the undying care and support they offered. But if you take only one thing away from a life well-lived, it’s this:
John loved his Evie.
........
If you would like to make a donation in John’s name, please consider one of the following organizations:
The Terry Fox Foundation (for Cancer Research)
Southlake Residential Care Village (Newmarket long term care residence that looked after John with care and compassion for almost 4 years)
Alzheimer Society Canada (Dementia research and treatment)