Rae, John Archie –
Peacefully passed away at Brantford General Hospital, on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, formerly of Burlington, in his 93rd year.
Beloved husband to the late Elizabeth Jean Green (2016). He will be forever remembered and cherished by his grandchildren Sarah Jean Green and partner Rob, Joanne Zbicinski and husband Artur, Thomas Green and wife Norma and his Great Grandchildren, Edith and Harvey Wright and Lucas and Evelyn Zbicinski. He will be lovingly remembered by his nephews and nieces Clifford Rae and wife Laurie, Ralph Rae and wife Janet, Donald Rae and wife Paula, Robert Stringer and late wife Wendy (2021), Cathy Reek and husband Geoff, Karen Wiesner and husband Chris, Pat Rae and husband Lionel Sabourin, Stephen Rae and wife Liz, Bill Rae and wife Mala, Ernest Rae and Ruth Rae-Hunt and partner Rob Schneider. He is survived by his dear sister Jean Stringer. Pre-deceased by his loving parents Ralph and Abbie (Smith) and brothers, Gordon, Ernest, Francis and George. He will be fondly remembered and missed by his friends.
Cremation has taken place. If desired, donations to Heart and Stroke Foundation or Canadian Cancer Society would be sincerely appreciated by the family.
Heaven got a new Angel yesterday 2/2/2022 at 8:14am
Grandpa Johnny was a kind and loving man. He was strong and full of strength and will. He had a great big smile that could make you feel like everything would be alright. His jokes and wit were a part of every conversation. He was charming and loved the ladies in his life.
Johnny was a doting husband to my Nanny; he always wanted to make sure my Nanny was happy. He’d paint anything any colour, he painted a carpet on the deck outside for her, he found a way for her sewing peddle to stay in place, anything she could think of or needed he was there fixing it, doing things and loving her. They were a partnership to admire, the sweetest couple. Even when she moved into the nursing home, he never missed a day being with her. He cared for her more than anyone. I hope he is now enjoying and driving his Miss Daisy around in heaven and they are finding some cool things on the sides of the clouds together.
He loved gardening. It amazed me how he could grow a tomato plant out of an old tomato. He would have these little green seedlings growing from an open tomato in trays around his home. He loved eating tomatoes! He had plants all over his house, and seeds in the kitchen window stacked in little containers; he was a nurturer of life. I now promise to keep these plants alive best I can.
I will miss the walks we would take around his garden together, picking out and talking about what plants I would move next, as I was trying to bring many of them here to my home to keep the gardening legacy going.
He loved his sister Jean and would call her each Sunday. He cared so much about the people involved in his life. He enjoyed the company of his friends and family. He loved watching his great grand-kids play, Edith and Harvey would have many picnics on his carpet and explore his old home as I visited and helped. They will miss playing at his home and all the trinkets. He was an amazing great-grandpa to them, we are sadden he did not get to stay longer up here in Paris near us.
He kept active and busy. He was hard working man who loved to help people. He was even going up to work on the family farm in his 90’s. He was not going to let age stop him from being there with his loved ones and experiencing life.
I’ll miss little things like how he liked his soap TV shows and knew the time of day it was according to his shows schedules. Everything had a use to him or could be needed one day, nothing was wasted. He had trinkets and treasures that were fun to look through. He always had a pen and glasses in his pocket, paper with random notes nearby. He was always happy to hold my hands, and remark on how chilly they were so he would warm them up for me. He would say this great big hello that made you feel so good inside, like he missed you always.
He would clean off his plate of food, nothing went to waste. He was an excellent sweet Chili Sauce maker. He made canned peaches and chili sauce right up to this past summer. Johnny’s famous chili sauce could go on everything to him, mac and chesses, sandwiches, brown beans; any leftover meal was instantly made better with a spoonful of it.
Our time was full of tender moments broken up by his witty comments. I am going to miss our conversations on the phone. We would talk each our ears offs we would say. But to be honest I did most of the chatting about my life, he had so much patience and support for me.
I have a childhood memory of being at his Milton home before he sold it, sitting behind his house and watching hot air balloons in the back field float up to the sky. It was something special. He was someone special to me. We will all miss seeing him.
He would always give a big hug and big kiss goodbye.
As he would say on the phone “I love you, bye-bye for now”.