John & Jo-Anne Duckworth

In Memory

John (Jack) William Duckworth and Jo-Anne Gail Merrill Duckworth

June 27/1942 – Dec. 6/2019        Sept. 1/1947 – May 15/2026

Dad was from Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, and Mum was from the Eastern Townships. They met in the summer of 1967. It was a blind date with friends, and Dad was included as the fourth because he had a car. She was 20, and he was 25. It was love, and they were married just before Christmas that same year. Both graduated from MacDonald College in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, but it was Mum’s DIP class that formed a friend group that has lasted the decades.

Dad had an impressive business career. From Humpty Dumpty in Hartland, New Brunswick (where we were born - Kerri Lee 1970 and Jacquelyn (Jackie) 1972), Fromagerie d’OKA, where we resided in Pincourt, Quebec, to Aults Food in Winchester, Ontario, and finally Saputo Cheese, with whom he retired. His career with Saputo had Mum setting up homes in Essa, Ontario, and then back to Beaconsfield/Pointe Claire, Quebec area, and eventually back to Ontario, where they settled in Elmvale until he retired. Dad’s long career with Saputo had him traveling all around the globe, but in retirement, they eventually settled at the ‘Jack Shack’ in Eagle Lake, Ontario. Dad’s passions were work and golf. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with its endless golf courses and shopping (Mum loved shopping in MB), became a special place they shared with friends and family over the decades.

Dad worked a lot. Mum was the constant in the home and the glue that held everyone and everything together. She was a voracious reader and was always ahead of the times in her ways of thinking. Mum endured more than most in her life, and her strength and resilience were a lesson to all. She was an artist, a custom picture framer, and a quilter. Quilting became her main passion, and she left quite a quilt and fabric legacy. She became known for her style of quilt piecing, and it has been coined ‘the Duckworth Quilt’. Google it. She made quilts for all her friends and family and their friends and family, and so on. All you had to do was ask. They were both patrons of the arts and encouraged and supported artistic creativity. Friends, family, and dogs were very important to them both.

Dad died 6 1/2 years ago, and Mum died recently. They built lasting friendships wherever life took them. Their love, kindness, and generosity leave a legacy that will live on in the hearts of those who knew them.

Private Arrangements

They will be greatly missed and forever remembered. As per their wishes, there is no memorial service, and some of their combined ashes have been scattered in the Gull River on their property in Eagle Lake, Ontario. Carried by the current, held by the earth, and remembered by the sky. RIP Mum and Dad. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the HALIBURTON COMMUNITY FUNERAL HOME, 13523 HWY. #118 Haliburton, Ontario K0M 1S0 (705) 457-9209.

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