MALTMAN, John

John Alfred Maltman beloved husband of Carolyne Maltman (deceased) passed away on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at the age of 85 years.

John lived his life in Sault Ste. Marie until July 2010 when, due to illness and the wish to be close to family, he and Carolyne relocated to Calgary, AB. John lost his beloved Carolyne later that year. John is also predeceased by his second child (John, of Winnipeg MB).

John is survived by his children Christine (Norman Klein) of Grand Cayman, Todd of Calgary, AB and dear friend Karen Lee Bishop of Calgary, AB (whom he was proud to call daughter). Also known as “Pappa John”, John is also survived by his grandchildren Tynan and Katie Klein of Grand Cayman.

John was a structural steel draftsman by trade and to those who knew him, probably the best in his field. He even took contract work in Halifax NS, Thompson MB, Australia and South Africa. John was always a big kid at heart and wasn’t afraid of adventure and trying new things and he imparted this on his kids and grandkids. For example, back in the “old days”, before calculators were “invented”, John used a slide rule for all his drafting calculations. Christine encouraged him to upgrade his technology and get a calculator; John happily agreed on the condition that Christine learn how to use a slide rule.

John was a devout Roman Catholic and his generosity and kindness are no doubt the cornerstones of the memories he created with friends and family. John was a Catholic lay minister of the eucharist at St. Gerard Majella Parish in Sault Ste. Marie. As part of his ministry, he frequently visited seniors and nursing homes.

John also loved the youth community and in 1976, he became the first “Youth Group Leader” at St. Gerard. Through this Ministry his encouraged the church youth to become more active in the church and was instrumental in organizing the first “rock masses” at St. Gerard, despite the fact that he didn’t really like rock music. He also organized youth group church retreats and frequently hosted BBQs at his house. This wasn’t unusual because John and Carolyne were the neighbourhood “flop house” where their doors were always open to neighbourhood kids and church youth.

During the political crisis in Vietnam in the mid-1970s, John made it his goal to see a Vietnamese family “sponsored” in Sault Ste. Marie. He worked tirelessly through the church and government agencies to finally ensure that a family in need was relocated to Sault Ste. Marie. This dream not only resulted in the first such family in Sault Ste. Marie, but the eventual relocation of several other refugee families to Sault Ste. Marie. John and his entire family were lovingly and gratefully “adopted” by his Vietnamese extended family.

Besides family and church, John’s favourite things included food (as you will see many photos of John posing with food), especially ice cream. John also loved listening to and playing music. He played the piano and he and daughter Chrissie took piano lessons and entered the local musical festival as the first (maybe only) father and daughter duet. John also played the tuba and sousaphone. In fact, he was a member of the Sault Concert Band and for a few years, he marched annually in the Sault’s summer community day parade while playing the sousaphone!

John also loved fishing and rowing his wooden dory in the St. Mary’s River in Sault Ste. Marie. John was the first (and maybe only) person to “row” the Terry Fox “run” for charity. John named his boat the “Hunky Dory” and lovingly restored it in his garage.

In 1998 and 1999, John and Carolyne welcomed their two grandchildren Tynan and Katie, which began a whole new Pappa John and Gramma Maltman series of adventures. Because their grandkids live in the Cayman Islands, every minute they spent with them was “full on”. Pappa John built a treehouse in his back yard for the kids. He took them on cat-tail picking, berry-picking and fishing adventures that included copious amounts of sugar and ice cream intake. Pappa didn’t much care for rules during these adventures and may have forgotten to secure the kids’ booster seats, smoked cigarettes in the fishing boat all with the “don’t tell Gramma” caveat. Pappa John was the best story teller, often telling his own real-life stories of life growing up in Sault Ste. Marie and summers spent on a farm on St. Joseph Island. Of course, the stories always got better with each re-telling. Tynan and Katie recall Pappa’s classic tale “The Old Man of Island Lake”.

John moved to Calgary in 2010 with Carolyne. Sadly, Carolyne passed away later that year after a long battle with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. John’s youngest child, Todd, made it his singular goal to keep the fun in his Dad’s life. Growing up with John as a Dad, it wasn’t difficult to imagine what adventures he would like. John loved road trips and Todd took him on several, including a memorable road trip from Calgary to Oregon to meet up with his Cayman kids. Being pulled over by State Police, more ice cream and lots of unhealthy food only made the adventures better.

Over the years, John became increasingly reliant on additional health care services and Todd was always right there to advocate for him, keep him company and ensure he could continue the happy stuff as much as possible. Todd and John had a great deal of love and support from Karen, who John affectionately referred to as his daughter. Not only from the Sault too, Karen is a registered nurse who unwaveringly provided healthcare support and daughter love on a daily basis. This tag-team support from Todd and Karen continued until the end when, just a couple of days before John’s passing, he was treated to a “spa” day in hospital with a fresh “buzz cut and head polish” from Todd and a much-needed pedicure from Karen. Todd made no apologies for shaving Dad’s eyebrows, even though he knew Mom might not like it when she saw him at the pearly gates.

Christine, Todd and Karen spent the last several days with John, having laugh after laugh about Dad’s antics over the years. They also encouraged John to recite his favourite passages from the New Testament (which Dad had read at least 5 times in his life). Psalm 23 was his favourite. Upon admission to the hospital on Tuesday 19th April for COVID pneumonia, Dad asked to see a priest to administer last rights and hear his confession. His only wish was to be kept comfortable until he was ready to see Carolyne again. His wish came true on Sunday 23rd April 2022 at 4:12 pm. John and Carolyne are together again.

John was a legendary character, loving husband, father and grandfather. John’s kids and grandkids have been recalling their many happy and often comical memories of John. Feel free to view a memorable slide show of photos at https://www.dropbox.com/s/a5deiv16nx9tj1v/Remembering%20Pappa%20John%20Maltman%201936-2022.mov?dl=0

In lieu of flowers, if friends so desire, memorial donations may be made directly to John’s favourite charity “Save the Children” at https://donate.savethechildren.ca/site/Donation2?df_id=2580&mfc_pref=T&2580.donation=form1, or the charity of the donor’s choice.

A private funeral service will be held in Calgary on the 27th April 2022 and John will be laid to rest with Carolyne and his son John Jr.