CHISHOLM, JOHN McBETH - (1945 - 2015) - In three months, an aggressive cancer took John on January 3, 2015, in Calgary, at the age of 69. He is survived by his wife, Linda (Koczan), four sons, Andrew, Robert, Mark and Matthew, grandson Braden and sister Alice Hughes (Brian). John was born in Saint John to May (nee McBeth) and John T.G. Chisholm. He was the great-great-grandson of Alexander “Boss” Gibson and Mary (nee Robinson) of Marysville, NB. He is predeceased by his parents and his grandparents, Sandy W. and Stella McBeth, also of Saint John. John graduated from Simonds Regional High School in 1964 and was quickly drawn into the new world of computers; working for the K.C. Irving Corporation who were the first to bring their vast enterprises, on the eastern seaboard, into the computer age. This is where John thrived and eventually moved on to IBM in Montreal from where he traveled the world as a trouble shooter for their Operating Systems. He mastered the complexities of computer programming and was in high demand. John learned to fly with the Air Cadet Flying School while still a student and it fit his personality perfectly as he was always looking up into the heavens – literally. From a young age, having been gifted a telescope by his Aunt Christine of Chicago and with whom he shared a talent for art and calligraphy, John spent hundreds of hours mapping the stars and constellations while others danced the nights away. In 1975, John moved to Victoria, British Columbia with his wife Michele (nee Rudin) and his two boys, Andrew and Robert. John re-married in the 1980s. In the years that followed, he and Linda settled in Calgary with their two sons, Mark and Matthew.
John will be missed and grieved by family and friends who will gather on Saturday, January 17, 2015 at Thornhill Baptist Church (128 Tache Avenue, Calgary NW) to celebrate his life. Funeral arrangements are by Choice Memorial Cremation and Funeral Services of Calgary, AB. Jesus said unto her, “I am the resurrection, and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25) Sis.