JOHN MAXIME LAZARUK, passed away peacefully at the Good Samaritan West Highland Centre, on Monday, April 10, 2023 at the age of 92 years.

John was born into very humble beginnings in June of 1930 in Lethbridge. We’ve tried to imagine what Lethbridge was like in those days, when we listened to his stories of mischief and fond memories with good friends and family. It seems that the mischief grew more sophisticated as he got older, but his love of his hometown never faded. He always enjoyed being back in Lethbridge when he visited his parents and other family members in later decades of his life.

In the late 1940s, a key educational opportunity presented itself, the chance to study electronics in far off Montreal, and this truly impacted his career later in life. Many decades later, John would still talk about how fascinating and fun his time in Montreal was and he so treasured those memories of initial independence in this big city so far from home. But he also treasured what he learned there, and kept his precious notebooks from that technical training for the rest of his life. Within just a few years after that, he landed his first major career position at AGT, and was thereafter a “telephone man” for life. He proudly installed his parent’s first telephone in their home. He got to know large swaths of the business community as he installed switchboards and other telephony around the city, as AGT pushed to modernize Alberta. And then he really began to discover Alberta! His most cherished memories of his career were all those years spent with a crew, medium term stints in towns all over the province doing equipment installations and upgrades.

In the later 1950s, John unfortunately started to suffer from quite severe arthritis, unusual for his young age. This required a period of hospitalization in Calgary, but it turns out to have a silver lining. He happened to meet a pretty and sparkling young nurse that very much caught his fancy, and by 1958, John and Andrea were married. Within the next six years, all three of their kids (Michael, Natalie and Christopher) were born, and the family was quite well set up in Calgary. During his life in Calgary, he lived in only two residences, but as both were new builds we remember all the hard work put in landscaping, fencing and hardscaping. John loved his home, especially entertaining friends and neighbours who might spontaneously gather for an evening bonfire, and he would set up music to listen to.

Dad was never bored, he had a diverse set of interests. He had a well-established workshop at home and was always building or fixing wood and metal things; he spent a lot of blissful time angling all over Alberta, especially his beloved Sheep River. He enjoyed reviving school time memories when he played on his “old timers” hockey league (coming home VERY red in the face!). He had a passion for camping and was always joyful when he had a new camper or motorhome to set up for the perfect camping experience in BC or southern Alberta, or for one of several repeat trips driving across Canada. Apparently, he had “a system” for when he would visit Vegas and felt he was quite the high-roller! He and Andrea travelled frequently to Reno or Vegas with Andrea’s sister and brother-in-law Marianne and Bob. It’s funny actually, because John was really quite a homebody, but actually completed a “circle Pacific” trip in 1984 to Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji and New Zealand. After his retirement from AGT/Telus in 1985, he and Andrea joined Michael and Christopher in 1988 to tour a variety of countries in Europe. Picture those four large people crammed into a compact German car putt-putting down the high-speed autobahn! These experiences fascinated him and he was so happy to tell stories about the exciting things he saw. Amazingly, in retirement John went back to college! He enrolled in the metallurgy program at the Alberta College of Art. None were more surprised than his family and friends to see the amazing works he milled and crafted in copper, silver, gold and other ornamental metals. All those years of having shop machinery around gave him a real edge over most of his classmates.

In 2001, with changing circumstances, John decided to pack up and move from Calgary back to his favoured hometown of Lethbridge. He was lucky to enjoy a resurgence of visits from his sisters and his incredible nieces and nephews plus their children. We hope those cousins all understand how much their companionship, kindness and support were appreciated. The things that he had enjoyed so much in Calgary continued in Lethbridge. There were impromptu gatherings by bonfires, spontaneous visits from anyone who dropped by, even better camping trips (with his new fifth-wheel), and of course the well set-up workshop!

Age eventually catches up with all of us. With declining health in 2019, John and his family recognized he needed more daily living support close at hand, and this is when he became a resident of West Highlands care facility in west Lethbridge. We are particularly grateful for the supportive and caring nature of the staff there.

John passed in peaceful comfort on April 10th. He’s survived by his wife Andrea and his children Michael (Peter), Natalie (George) and Christopher (Jim); his sisters Vickie, Violet, Cecilia and Georgie, and a quite long list of dear nieces and nephews. As he wished, there will be no service to follow.

John’s final act of charity was a donation to aid Ukrainian refugees. He wasn’t really a flowers-and-Hallmark kind of guy, so in lieu of such, any charity close to your heart should be the lucky recipient of a donation to remember him.

Cremation entrusted to Cornerstone Funeral Home.

 

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

• Date : 2023-04-10
• Location : Lethbridge, Alberta