JOHN WARREN, beloved husband of Barbara, born August 18th, 1939 in Shenfield, England, passed away peacefully at home in Lethbridge, on January 4th 2023 with the help of MAID (medical aid in dying) at the age of 83, encircled in love by his wife and three daughters.

Barbara’s memories: John and I met in January 1955, when he was 15 and I was 14. From that magical moment we enjoyed every step of our journey together.

On 16 March 1963 we were married and, four months later, we sailed to Montreal on the Empress of Canada. We drove our VW van to Calgary where we spent the next 13 years, enjoying our lives and our new family. Christine, Pauline and Tania, three wonderful daughters, were all born in Calgary.

We all moved to Lethbridge in 1976, and this move was a good one for our family. We enjoyed our lives here, and were happy to see our girls mature into kind, loving, strong women. Their spouses, Michelle, Troy and Ted have all added to the tapestry of our family, as have our grandchildren, Russell, Tegan, Samantha, Colton, Denver, Matthew, Dylan and Kaleigh. We all love and enjoy each other.

John chose to ask for medical assistance in dying (MAID) because he had been suffering from the pain of peripheral neuropathy since 2010.  John, from this experience, believed in the right to die. From 2012 to 2015 he was Vice President of Dying With Dignity Canada and fought for the right of Canadians, “who were suffering intolerably from an incurable condition”, to be eligible for MAID. The organization won that battle in 2015 when the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the government to change the law.

In October we hurriedly returned from our winter home in Mexico because John was so sick.

John applied for MAID, served the mandatory waiting period of 90 days and on 4th January his suffering was ended with the help of a physician. He was surrounded by his daughters and was in my loving arms. We had a magical life together till the end of his journey. That is all that matters.

Dr. Seuss was right, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of John may be made to the Shooting Star Foundation, 5015 – 50 Avenue, Taber, AB, T1G 1N3.

A private Family Service will be held at a later date.

 

To send a condolence, please visit www.cornerstonefuneralhome.com

• Date : 2023-01-04
• Location : Lethbridge, Alberta