John B. Whitcombe
1919-2017
On Sunday, November 12, 2017, John Ballington Whitcombe passed quietly
from this world at the age of 98, in the peaceful surroundings of the
Veterans’ Unit of Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital in
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
While his physical body has left us, his spirit will live on forever with his beloved wife and friend Carol, in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, his daughter Diane Morgan-Davies and grandson James Davies in England.
John’s ready smile and cheerful disposition will be sadly missed by his family and friends.
John was born in Wells, Somerset, England on February 4, 1919. He enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps. of the British Regular Army at London, England on April 14, 1936. From 1941 to 1943 he served on HMHS Newfoundland, a British Royal Mail ship requisitioned as a hospital ship in World War II, repeatedly crossing the Atlantic Ocean bringing wounded troops back to Nova Scotia, Canada and rehabilitated troops back home. The HMHS Newfoundland was sunk in 1943 in an air attack in the Mediterranean. John was fortunately not on board at the time. He then administrated a Mental Hospital in Talgarth, Wales which held 600 mental patients (500 German prisoners-of-war and 100 military mental patients from Great Britain). He was discharged with Ememplary Military conduct on May 6, 1949.
John retired from business life in London, England in 1980 and immigrated to Canada in 1982 where he became a Canadian Citizen in Winnipeg, Manitoba on February 11, 1986. John met his wife Carol in Winnipeg in 1983 and they were married March 12, 1993. They moved to Mahone Bay in September of 1996 and have lived extremely happily there until he was admitted to the Veterans’ Unit in Lunenburg in May 2017.
A sincere thank you to all the staff in the Veterans’ Unit for their incredible warmth, caring and compassion.
Cremation has taken place. An open House will be held from 12 to 3 p.m., Sunday, November 26th at The Biscuit Eater, 16 Orchard Street, Mahone Bay (902-624-2665).
While his physical body has left us, his spirit will live on forever with his beloved wife and friend Carol, in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, his daughter Diane Morgan-Davies and grandson James Davies in England.
John’s ready smile and cheerful disposition will be sadly missed by his family and friends.
John was born in Wells, Somerset, England on February 4, 1919. He enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps. of the British Regular Army at London, England on April 14, 1936. From 1941 to 1943 he served on HMHS Newfoundland, a British Royal Mail ship requisitioned as a hospital ship in World War II, repeatedly crossing the Atlantic Ocean bringing wounded troops back to Nova Scotia, Canada and rehabilitated troops back home. The HMHS Newfoundland was sunk in 1943 in an air attack in the Mediterranean. John was fortunately not on board at the time. He then administrated a Mental Hospital in Talgarth, Wales which held 600 mental patients (500 German prisoners-of-war and 100 military mental patients from Great Britain). He was discharged with Ememplary Military conduct on May 6, 1949.
John retired from business life in London, England in 1980 and immigrated to Canada in 1982 where he became a Canadian Citizen in Winnipeg, Manitoba on February 11, 1986. John met his wife Carol in Winnipeg in 1983 and they were married March 12, 1993. They moved to Mahone Bay in September of 1996 and have lived extremely happily there until he was admitted to the Veterans’ Unit in Lunenburg in May 2017.
A sincere thank you to all the staff in the Veterans’ Unit for their incredible warmth, caring and compassion.
Cremation has taken place. An open House will be held from 12 to 3 p.m., Sunday, November 26th at The Biscuit Eater, 16 Orchard Street, Mahone Bay (902-624-2665).
“Rest in Peace My Darling until we meet again”
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Service Date
Sunday, November 26, 2017