Remembering John Bassingthwaite
We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of John Bassigthwaite, a dedicated volunteer and 28-year member of the Royal Canadian Legion. John was involved in a car accident with a deer near Hope in the Fraser Valley and passed away a week later at Duncan Hospital due to complications from the accident. He was 83.
John transferred to the Malahat Legion in 2015 after moving to Cobble Hill from Winnipeg, Manitoba, following the loss of his wife, Eleanor, the previous year. Despite health challenges stemming from Lyme disease, John felt a new sense of security after the pandemic. He became an integral part of our kitchen team as a short-order cook, working alongside his partner, Mercy, who managed the Point-of-Sale till.
John will be remembered for his dry wit and kind smile. As the photo caption aptly puts it, “Skip the nursing home, die dancing.” Our volunteers are the backbone of our operations, and John’s contributions will be greatly missed.
In lieu of flowers, Mercy has requested donations to the Legion Poppy Fund – details below.
If you wish to donate to the Malahat Legion poppy fund, you can do so a couple of ways:
- E-transfer to rcl134Poppy@gmail.com, no password is required; or
- Write a cheque made out to Malahat RCL 134 Poppy Fund and either drop it off at the secure dropbox at the Legion or mail it to the Legion.
The Legion address is 1625 Shawnigan-Mill Bay Road, Shawnigan Lake, BC V8H 2A4
