John Wood

John V. Wood, of Bracebridge Muskoka died on Friday, December 10th.

John lived in the place he loved.  He loved Muskoka’s history, the land, water and, in particular, Lake Joseph where he and Jennifer built a simple panabode cottage and spent happy family summers in the 60’s and 70’s.

John was first introduced to Muskoka as a 7 year old evacuee during WWII. He lived in Bracebridge for 40 years.

John met Jennifer at Jasper Park Lodge. Following a one week courtship, and two years of letter writing, they got married in Winchester, UK in 1958.  Like any wise couple they had shared and separate interests.

A patient and good humoured father to Joan (Gary), Vivian (Tim), and John. Grandfather to Mirabai, Fae, and Sila. They loved their ‘Grandy’. He took them on boat rides, made them beautiful wooden pencil boxes, shared books, conversations and encouraged them to ask questions about anything.

An avid scuba diver for many years, his love of water turned to volunteering with Muskoka Lakes Association doing water quality testing. He did this for twenty years.

Book lover, collector, and yes, addict - the house will rise a few inches when the books are gone.

John was also a great fan of listening to the radio and it was not uncommon for two radios to be on in the house.

A man with an incredible memory, John was interested in everything and did not forget anything.  He could reference obscure articles he read in magazines decades ago.

Pioneer Recycler: since 1970, John took garbage reduction, composting, and energy savings seriously. He and Jennifer put out garbage only three times a year.  There was an article written about the recycling duo in the Bracebridge Examiner. John did not want to contribute anything to the landfill.

John kept an organized garage and loved creative problem solving. Little known fact: he engineered a bracket which retailer Lee Valley showed interest in.

Giver of good bear hugs. We loved him and are so proud John Wood was our Dad.

“Turn the lights out”, yes Dad.