A life of service: volunteering for 21 years after a 40-year career

(Contributed Photo)

Debbie Kasman, Tillsonburg Post Correspondent

John Haldane hadn’t planned to volunteer for 21 years after retiring from his 40-year career at Canada Life Head Office in Toronto, but that’s what ended up happening. Life has a funny way of taking you places you didn’t see coming.

Born in 1943 at Mrs. Stanford’s Nursing Home, a private maternity home (not a modern long-term care facility) located at 10039 Yonge Street in Richmond Hill, Haldane was the oldest of three children. His parents were John and Thelma Haldane.

In the era before Richmond Hill had its own hospital, Mrs. Stanford’s Nursing Home functioned primarily as a maternity facility. Expectant mothers stayed there for childbirth, with deliveries handled upstairs in the bedrooms. Harry, sometimes called “Uncle Harry,” and Elizabeth Ann, “Mrs.” Stanford, owned and lived in the house from around 1928 until 1976. Harry served as a long-time custodian at Richmond Hill High School and was active in the community. Ann worked in practical nursing for many years and helped delivered babies at the house, Haldane included.

After graduating from the local high school, Haldane went off to Ryerson University in pursuit of a business degree. After graduating with that degree, he worked at Canada Life for 40 years, then retired to Tillsonburg in 2005 with his wife Kathy.

Not one to sit still very long, Haldane launched himself on a second volunteer career post retirement that lasted for 21 years. He first volunteered at the Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital, where he stayed for 20 years, but he also acted as a volunteer companion for the Alzheimer’s Association of Oxford County for two years, served on the board of Community Living Tillsonburg for four years (as director and treasurer), and served on the board of the Tillsonburg Senior Centre as director for 2 years.

Haldane’s main role at the Tillsonburg hospital was to provide admin/computer support for the volunteer coordinator. He also served two terms as president of the volunteer association board, one term on the TDMH Hospital Board, and another term on the TDMH Foundation Board. Haldane completed other volunteer jobs at the hospital as well: helping at the information desk, treasurer of the coffee shop, summarizer of patient surveys, and director and past-president of the volunteer association board.

At the age of 83, John is now fully retired and living a life of leisure. He spends his time listening to music, reading, journaling, and streaming movies and television shows. Haldane lost his wife in 2018, and has been a resident at Rolph Street School for the past five years.

Haldane is a proud father and grandfather with two daughters, Corrie and Tanya, and two grandchildren, Samantha and Tyler. Corrie has published numerous stories in short story anthologies and Tanya is an administrator at a product testing facility. Granddaughter Samantha is 18 and currently living and working in Japan. Grandson Tyler is 25 and about to be married.

Haldane told me he almost went to the infamous Woodstock in 1969 on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York, where Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, and Sly and the Family Stone closed the show over three days amidst a lot of chaos– but his buddy backed out at the last minute, and had the car.

Haldane likes to joke that he is “battery-operated with a lifetime warranty.”

Haldane’s advice for enjoying retirement? I was expecting something noble about service and giving back. Instead, the man who ran on volunteer hours for 21 years grinned, and said, “Live for today. You never know when your batteries might give out.”

He should know — he has a pacemaker. Technically, he’s been battery-operated with a lifetime warranty for years.