Obituary of John Edwin Rowarth

John Edwin Rowarth

November 5,1924 - January 17, 2024

It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of John Edwin Rowarth in his 99th year, peacefully and surrounded by his loving family.
John was a born and raised in Ilfracombe, England, a true Brit through and through. After the war had ended and he had completed his time with the British Navy, he moved to Canada at the coaxing of his sister, Joan and brother in law. He soon met and married, Arlene Elizabeth Edwards, the love of his life for more than 50 years.

Together they bought a home in Markham, and raised several foster children and four children of their own, Robert, Linda, Laura & Jane. John & Arlene watched as their family grew and all were married, and before they knew it twelve grandchildren followed, and now several great grandchildren. 

John was a Electrical Engineer and had a long and interesting career with The Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine, D.C.I.E.M in Downsview. There were several unique facilities created in Downsview, and a lot of the study was investigating the effects of occupational hazards such as cold, heat, impact, and pressure on pilots and divers. There was not a lot of talk about his job at home, but I do remember the conversation about the effect of G-forces on pilots being researched, with a hypobaric and hyperbaric chambers being used to study decompression sickness and motion sickness.  John always enjoyed his job and found it very fulfilling, he retired at the age of 59, after 35 years of loyal service. The next chapter began and he was never short on projects to keep himself busy between babysitting grandchildren, and building a cottage he definitely filled his days. 

Sadly and quite unexpectedly, Arlene passed at the age of 73, and several years later John sold their home in Markham and moved to Uxbridge. Always an outgoing person and easy to chat with, he met people and grew a large circle of friends from his swim group, artist group, to his friends in Testa Heights he was never at a loss of things to do or people to see.

His wife, Arlene had always encouraged him to get back to his painting, but a busy life and family never seemed to allow him the time, once he settled in Uxbridge he joined a group of local painters and took lessons to improve his water colour technique. His love for art and time painting with friends filled many days. 
John had a great sense of humour and a heart of gold, he enjoyed life and lived it to its fullest. He will be forever remembered, as a kind and loving man with a heart of gold,  and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Funeral Livestream

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The livestream is set to start at 12:45 p.m., service to start at 1:00 p.m.