The following was posted to his facebook:
He had quite the resume:Last evening, around 830 PM, the world lost an incredibly great man, an incredibly kind, loving, funny, great man. Our dad, John Swallow, had been receiving treatment for prostate cancer that had metastasized to his bones and liver. He didn’t share this. He was never one to complain. He preferred to smile and have a laugh and he never looked on the downside of a situation. In March, it became apparent that living on his own was no longer a great idea so he moved into a beautiful suite at Carrington retirement residence. In short order, he cluttered it with whatever he could find at Walmart during his daily rides on his new scooter, and with what he could buy from his newly discovered Amazon Prime (We are secretly thankful he didn’t know about Amazon prime before….). He moved into Carrington March 31st, but typical to dad, he made friends very quick, and it became “home”. Just over two weeks ago, he got into a crisis with pain and mobility, and with my brother’s incredible help, he was admitted to Hospice for pain and symptom control. It was supposed to be for just a couple of weeks and he would return to Carrington. But it quickly became apparent that more was going on. It turns out that our dad had a few special connections at Hospice which made his time there even more special. He was so thankful to be at Hospice, and was worried he would have to leave, as time there does have a limit. Once he was reassured that he would not be moving anywhere, he settled in and truly, he received the best care imaginable. He was never in pain. His grandchildren were able to see him and spend quality time, his friends dropped in…sometimes it was more like a party room than hospice with so many visitors…but he appreciated it so much and he would never have it any other way. This weekend, his beloved “Snowflakes” performed a fly past for him. We wheeled his bed out to the garden area so he could watch. It was a beautiful sunny day. His Snowflake friend stopped by and made sure we had dad’s bed pointed in the right direction…if he hadn’t of been there…dad would have missed the whole thing lol. Dad had a great day Saturday. It was perfect. And then that evening, he said he didn’t want to go, but it was time. And he didn’t wake up after. His brother Steve, his son John, and myself, his daughter Suzanne, kissed him good bye and started into his final flight.
We cannot thank all the people in his life that made his final years so special. Colleen with her regular delivery of treats to my dad and my uncle Steve, to Stu and Carolyn for checking in on him and just spending time, to his Vernon Flying Club buddies for being his social group for the past 20 years, to his beloved Vernon Snowflakes, to so many, many friends that have reached out to us, and to my dad. There are too many to list. That says something. When there are too many friends to list. How many people can say that?
JOHN MARTIN SWALLOW
John was born in February 1939 in Alberta and received his schooling in Rowley, Drumheller, and
Morrin. Following graduation in 1957, he joined the RCAF and was posted to Germany in 1959 flying
the F-86 Sabre jet. While there, he participated in two international aerial gunnery competitions in
Leeuwarden in Holland – 1961 and 1962. In March, 1962, his aircraft lost power during take-off and he
was forced to eject at low level, landing just north of the airport at Zweibrucken. In 1963, he returned to
Canada where he was a jet instructor for four years at Portage La Prairie, MB. During that period, he
met and married Bernice Marie Miller, a young nursing sister just in from Placentia, NF.
In 1966, he was selected to fly left wing on Canada’s Centennial Aerobatic Team, the Golden
Centennaires. For seven months in 1967, the Centennaires would crisscross Canada entertaining
Canadians while putting on more than one hundred performances. This was followed by what turned
out to be a farewell tour through the eastern and southern part of the USA with a side trip to the
Bahamas. All in all, the team performed one hundred and twenty one shows during Canada’s
Centennial year.
In 1969, a posting to Cold Lake AB to instruct on the CF-5 aircraft was followed two years later by a
move to St Hubert, PQ to a ground job in which he flew the Cessna 182, the Dehavilland Otter, and the
CF-5. Three years later, a posting to Edmonton AB was accepted to fly tactical Kiowa helicopters (Bell
JetRanger variant) in support of the Land Forces. A subsequent transfer four years later to Oromocto,
NB to instruct at the Operational Training Unit was to end three years later in John’s resignation from
the Canadian Armed Forces to enter the ranks of civilian pilots when he joined the Irving Organization
in Saint John, NB where flew fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft.
He moved again three years later to take up a position as an Inspector with Transport Canada in
Moncton, NB. Six years were spent flight testing aviation candidates in eastern Canada when
corporate aviation again beckoned and he returned to the Irving Organization to again fly fixed and
rotary wing aircraft for a further twelve years.
During his first tour with the Irving flight department, John flew the Bell JetRanger, a Cessna
Skymaster, and the Aero Commander 500S (Shrike). During the second tour, he flew the Eurocopter
AStar, the Shrike, the Twin Commander 1000, Twin Otter, Cessna Caravan, Cessna Citation, and the
Hawker Siddeley 125-700.
Twelve years later, John retired whereupon he and Bernice mounted their Gold Wing motorcycle and
travelled from New Brunswick to dip their toes in the waters of the Pacific off the west coast of
Vancouver Island and returned to the Picture Province some ten weeks later.
After retirement, John became a safety auditor for several years working with the Canadian Business
Aircraft Association (CBAA).
In 2004, John and Bernice moved to Vernon BC whereupon John commenced building an aircraft in
2005 – a Van’s RV-7A; a low-wing, two-place aircraft capable of cruising at 175 MPH. Nine years later
it flew and four months after that, John winged his way eastward to New Brunswick and back.
