John Dennis Wilcox – March 31, 1954 - November 23, 2023
It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to John Dennis Wilcox, at the age of 69, after fighting a courageous battle with cancer for the past year.
John was born in Georgetown, and is survived by his parents Gerard and Margaret, of Georgetown.
Proud father of Daniel (Megan) and Alexandra. Forever known as GJ Grampa to Carson and Rosslynn. Best friend and husband of Sally.
John is survived by his siblings: Barb (Philip) Sweeney, Anna (Brent) Barkhouse, Rose (Steven) Harris, all of Georgetown, Beth (Stephen)Thoms of Cambridge and James (Judy) of Thunder Bay. Predeceased by his youngest sister, Christine. John will be missed by his nieces and nephews, along with his extended Richardson and Miller families.
John grew up in Georgetown and after high school, attended Sir Sanford Fleming College, where he received his agriculture and forestry diploma. From there, he attended Georgian College for the air traffic control program. John also worked for Canada Post as a letter carrier for 8 years.
His firefighter career started on the Simcoe County Rescue Squad Unit 15 and volunteering for the Town of Innisfil Fire Department. After 2 years as a full-time firefighter with North York Fire Department, John joined the Barrie Fire and Emergency Services in 1990. In 1995, John was promoted to Captain and continued his career with Barrie until he retired in 2014. John was also an instructor for Georgian College in the Pre-Service Firefighter Education and Training program for 20 years. Here, he took great pride in preparing the students for a career in firefighting. It was always great to hear from a graduate who had just been hired at their first department.
Besides firefighting, another passion of John’s, was beekeeping. John was an avid beekeeper for 18 years and was always excited if someone asked a question about bees. It could easily turn into a lengthy discussion on everything you needed to know about bees and the honey process. “He was the proud owner, operator and employee of Simcoe County Honey”.
Music was also an important part of John’s life. He learned to play the trumpet at the age of 10, from his Uncle Joe Wilcox and was part of the Georgetown Citizen Band at the age of 12. John’s trumpet playing career included playing the last post at Remembrance Day Services every year since a teenager, being part of the heart throb cover band Station House for 12 years, and the Barrie Concert Band.
John will be missed for his outgoing personality, his bigger than life laugh, his endless generosity, and his wealth of knowledge especially in firefighting and beekeeping.
A visitation will be held at Adams Funeral Home (445 St. Vincent St., Barrie) on Wednesday, November 29, 2023 from 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm with the service to follow on Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 11am. Following the service there will be light refreshments with a private family burial to take place at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The John Wilcox Auto Extrication Award, or a charity of your choice.
Messages of condolence may be forwarded to the family through adamsfuneralhome.ca