Obituary of John Robert McBratney
John Robert McBratney of Montreal, Quebec, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family at Brockville General Hospital on June 30th, 2018. John was the only son of the late Albert & Mary McBratney, born on March 30th, 1936. John was very proud to be the father of Susan McBratney (Hugues), the late Mark McBratney and the doting grandfather of Dominique Guay (Tom). John will be dearly missed by his best friend and loving wife, Linda McBratney. They enjoyed many years of travel, adventures and laughter. He had a big heart into which he welcomed his five stepchildren, Steven White (Wendy), Maureen Grady (Raymond), Michael White (Erin), Paul White (Dana) and Debbie White. He was the much loved “Grandpa McB” to Gregory, Jason, Connor, Cameron, Hannah, Megan, Emma, Zachary, Matthew, Russell and Shayne
John received his Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Concordia University. He was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate by the Archdiocese of Montreal in 1997. He retired as a Corporate Planner after 37 years with Canadian National Railway and went on to work as a Financial Adviser for London Life. After retiring from his professional life, he entered fully into his calling to the Diaconate and served at St. Edmund of Canterbury in Beaconsfield, Quebec, and then at St. Thomas Aquinas in Hudson, Quebec. As a Deacon, he was proud to have had the opportunity to personally baptize 9 of his 12 Grandchildren. John was President of the Lakeshore Diabetes Group and played a major role in the establishment of the Diabetes Day Centre at the Lakeshore General Hospital. For several years, he acted as the President of the Hudson Senior Travel Club before moving to Brockville, Ontario in 2013. John will forever be remembered for his quirky sense of humour, which was evident to the very end, his love for his family and his fierce determination to live every moment to the fullest for as long as he could.
God saw you getting tired
When a cure was not to be,
So He closed His arms around you
And whispered, “Come to Me.”
You did not deserve what you went through,
And so He gave you rest.
God’s garden must be beautiful,
He only takes the best.
In time we saw you sinking
We watched you fade away.
Our hearts were almost broken,
You fought so hard to stay.
And when we saw you sleeping,
So peaceful and free from pain,
We could not wish you back
To suffer that again.
- Unknown
Funeral Mass to be held at 10:30am on Friday, July 6th at St. John Bosco Church 175 Windsor Drive, Brockville, ON. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Diabetes Association or the Kidney Foundation of Canada would be very much appreciated.
