June 30, 1940 - February 22, 2020
With sadness and regret, we must announce the sudden passing of John Keats on February 22, 2020 at his home in Courtenay, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, at the age of 79. Predeceased by his wife Norah and step-son Kevin. Survived by his brother Brian (Ann) in Dorset, England; his step-children Stephen (Gail), Linda (Robert) and Richard (Cindy); step-grandchildren Maia, Felix and Chloe; step-great-grandsons Dylan and Ty. Also survived in England by his niece Tracey (Dave), nephew Darren (Michelle), his great-nephew Oscar and great-niece Isla. John will be missed by us all.
John was born on June 30, 1940 in Pontypridd, Wales, the elder son of coal miner Charlie Keats and homemaker Addie-May Keats (nee Pruett.) He developed a love of sports at an early age and became a skilled player of cricket and football (known as soccer to us here in Canada.) He retained a lifelong love of sports as a player, a high school soccer coach and as a fan. John was also academically inclined, well-read and a lifelong reader. He graduated from Cardiff University, Wales, with a Double Honours degree in Spanish and Portuguese, travelling to both Spain and Portugal as part of his studies.
He immigrated to Canada in 1964 and began post-graduate work on renowned Mexican poet Octavio Paz at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. There, he met Norah Partington, a librarian at one of the Queen's libraries, and they married in the summer of 1966. The following year, they moved to Scarborough and, after a teaching accreditation course in Toronto, John got his first position as a teacher at Widdifield Secondary School in North Bay, Ontario, thus beginning a varied career teaching Spanish, French and English at a number of high schools in communities from North Bay and Peterborough in Ontario, to Victoria and Vanderhoof in British Columbia, eventually returning to Ontario to settle in Simcoe, where he eventually retired from his last teaching position at Simcoe Composite School.
After the sudden death of Norah in 2003, John decided to move to coastal British Columbia, settling in the small city of Courtenay in the Comox Valley, adjacent to the large wilderness area of Strathcona Provincial Park, and finding a home five minutes' walk from where the Puntledge River runs into Georgia Strait, the body of water between eastern Vancouver Island and the mainland of B.C. His love for the outdoors flourished here and, always happiest when physically active, he greatly expanded such activities from his well-established golfing and birding walks to sea kayaking, cycling and hiking through wilderness terrain. He also took up world travelling in the Canadian winter months, taking part in adventurous group tours and safaris, as well as some extensive solo trips, to many parts of Australia, New Zealand, South America, Mexico and Africa. Physically vigorous into his late 70s, he didn't hesitate to tackle whitewater rafting, skydiving, snorkelling, scuba diving and kayaking around the world, as well as walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Cremation has taken place. A small family memorial gathering will be held at a later date when more of us can safely get together in one place. We encourage donations in John's memory to the following: Canadian Wildlife Federation, The Nature Trust of B.C., Canadian Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders.