William JOHN

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JOHN: William Albert. Peacefully on Friday, May 6, 2016, Bill John, of Brandon, passed away at the Brandon Regional Health Centre. He was born September 1, 1948 in Brandon and attended school at McLaren and BCI. At the young age of 12, Bill moved in with the Johnson family. As a youth, Bill loved spending time on the Bread Truck with his dad, and the many trips to the north country (Flin Flon, Thompson). He also enjoyed spending time at the John Kane farm at Chater, and hopping the train to go to Chater to visit his grandparents. Bill met the love of his life, Doreen, in 1966. They were married August 30, 1969, and welcomed their daughter Donna in May of the following year. Bill had various jobs but his career was 32 years with Simplot Canada (Koch), retiring in 1997. Always an early riser, even when he was young, Bill enjoyed his early morning coffee runs to Timmy's on the hill at 4:00 a.m. with Jack and the guys and then headed to Timmy's south. When not socializing with his coffee pals, Bill enjoyed spending time at the cottage at Sandy Lake, with family and many friends. He also enjoyed fishing, 10 pin bowling, and traveling. During his retirement, Bill kept busy helping others, including building a garage for Al, helping the guys at the lake with their docks, building Mom a deck this past summer, helping Ken build his house in the country and helping the neighbours. Remaining to cherish Bill's memory are his wife Doreen; daughter Donna; mother Jean Johnson; sister Barb Lacey, husband Gregg, daughter Ashley; brother Ken Johnson, wife Edna, son Scott (Ashley), daughter Rikki; sister Sandy Brown, husband Bob, son Ali; sister Jacquie (Sheldon) and all of their families. Bill was predeceased by his father A. J. Johnson, step-father Harry Dennis, and brothers Cal John and Gordon Ross. A Celebration of Bill's Life will take place at Memories Chapel, 330 18th Street North, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. with Rev. Judith Froese-Doell officiating. Urn bearer will be his brother Ken Johnson. Eulogy to be read by Ken McElroy. Interment will be at Rosewood Memorial Gardens with a reception to follow at Memories Chapel. Donations in memory of Bill may be made to CancerCare Manitoba, 675 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 0V9 or the Manitoba Lung Association, Box 20029, Brandon, Manitoba R7A 6Y8. Expressions of sympathy may be made at www.memorieschapel.com.

As published in Brandon Sun on May 21, 2016