Obituary for Bertil John Johnson
Bertil John Johnson
Born May 30, 1936 in Shaunavon Saskatchewan to Johan Emanuel Jansson and Frida Hilma Linnea Sjolund, Bertil was the youngest of 5 children, and the only son in the family. He was spoiled and adored by his 4 sisters, Lilli, Elizabeth, Elsie and Sonja and joined the Air Force in 1955, shortly after graduating high school as valedictorian. He was stationed throughout Canada and Europe, and married Margaret Cook (Bannerman) on December 12, 1968, who had three sons from her previous marriage- John, Murray and Gary. In January of 1972, Bert and Marg had a daughter, Cheryl Katherine, born in Lahr, Germany. They shortly thereafter returned to Canada and he retired from the Air Force in 1979 and became a plane mechanic with Air Canada, until a series of strokes forced him into early retirement. After Margaret died in 1998, he remained in Winnipeg, and became the devoted partner to Judith Lindsay, until her death in 2018. He moved to British Columbia in 2019, spending his final days as his granddaughter Kianna’s willing servant and partner in crime…and eating a LOT of ice cream. Bert was a gentle-hearted, loving man who delighted in the small joys in life. He always seemed to be puttering about and he excelled at creating solutions for various inconveniences using duct tape, twine, and the judicious use of electrical extension cords. He was never a chatty guy, but his words always seemed to have impact- he was notorious for his witty oneliners and could always make even the dourest person laugh. Though a farm boy by birth, devoted to his Lazy Boy chair, cats and big screen tv, he was always up for adventures- from
racing (and crashing) motorcycles, hustling pool (okay, snooker) in his younger years, to travelling the world- from Cambodia to Costa Rica —-even backpacking through wet caves in Thailand at the age of 70(+a bit). No matter what, he could be counted on to have your back and he was a considerate and loyal friend, partner, father and grandfather. Bert was a good man who will be sorely missed and remains forever in our hearts.
Born May 30, 1936 in Shaunavon Saskatchewan to Johan Emanuel Jansson and Frida Hilma Linnea Sjolund, Bertil was the youngest of 5 children, and the only son in the family. He was spoiled and adored by his 4 sisters, Lilli, Elizabeth, Elsie and Sonja and joined the Air Force in 1955, shortly after graduating high school as valedictorian. He was stationed throughout Canada and Europe, and married Margaret Cook (Bannerman) on December 12, 1968, who had three sons from her previous marriage- John, Murray and Gary. In January of 1972, Bert and Marg had a daughter, Cheryl Katherine, born in Lahr, Germany. They shortly thereafter returned to Canada and he retired from the Air Force in 1979 and became a plane mechanic with Air Canada, until a series of strokes forced him into early retirement. After Margaret died in 1998, he remained in Winnipeg, and became the devoted partner to Judith Lindsay, until her death in 2018. He moved to British Columbia in 2019, spending his final days as his granddaughter Kianna’s willing servant and partner in crime…and eating a LOT of ice cream. Bert was a gentle-hearted, loving man who delighted in the small joys in life. He always seemed to be puttering about and he excelled at creating solutions for various inconveniences using duct tape, twine, and the judicious use of electrical extension cords. He was never a chatty guy, but his words always seemed to have impact- he was notorious for his witty oneliners and could always make even the dourest person laugh. Though a farm boy by birth, devoted to his Lazy Boy chair, cats and big screen tv, he was always up for adventures- from
racing (and crashing) motorcycles, hustling pool (okay, snooker) in his younger years, to travelling the world- from Cambodia to Costa Rica —-even backpacking through wet caves in Thailand at the age of 70(+a bit). No matter what, he could be counted on to have your back and he was a considerate and loyal friend, partner, father and grandfather. Bert was a good man who will be sorely missed and remains forever in our hearts.