John Campbell Lounds – Pharmacist (retired)
Posted Jan 5, 2021 | 2:26 PM
Peacefully passed away at Collingwood General Hospital on January 2, 2021 in his 91st year.
Born in Collingwood, Ontario to John Wesley Lounds and Annie May Lounds (Campbell), John spent most of his childhood growing up in Simcoe, Ontario with his older sister Helen. He grew up helping his father with the family-owned grocery store and, as he loved to recount, dealing with surprises like the tarantula hidden in the bananas he was unwrapping (at least that’s how big it looked at the time!).
He became a delivery boy for Roulston’s Drug Store in Simcoe and confirmed his passion for pharmacy by going to Pharmacy School at the University of Toronto. There, he met Joan Legate, one of the few women at the time who were studying pharmacy — a “beautiful redhead” as he often described her. Amazingly, he got her to marry him in 1953. Following graduation and after a stint at Diamond Drugs in Brantford, Ontario, he purchased a drug store of his own which brought him, along with his family, to Meaford, Ontario in 1960.
He will be most remembered for the many people he helped and served as a pharmacist during the years he owned and operated Muxlow’s Pharmacy in Meaford. He was a good businessman and was very generous of his time with customers. He took a Christmas Day attempted break-in at the store in stride and made sure the narcotics under lock and key had not been tampered with. Always a man of integrity, he decided to retire from pharmacy when he thought he might make a “mistake” in a prescription.
From the very beginning, he proudly adopted his new home town and was a big booster and supporter of Meaford. He lived that support through his work with the Rotary Club and the Business Improvement Area and as a member of the Town Planning Board. Golf was a great passion throughout his life, and his “retirement” years were spent often on and around the course, enjoying the company of friends and helping out with anything that would improve the club atmosphere. When not on the course, you could find him supporting various charitable causes or ringing the bell at Christmas time gathering donations for the Salvation Army.
He loved history, the English language, and above all, music and dancing. He would declare himself “sufficiently suffonsified” after a good meal, and always challenged us to name special words like the longest one in the English dictionary — “antidisestablishmentarianism”).
While he never played an instrument, he took part in barbershop quartets amongst other singing events. He loved the big bands from the time he was a high school disc jockey, where he prided himself on always ending the sets with a slow song to allow couples to dance closely, long before it was acceptable! Dixieland Jazz, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra graced the home record shelves.
And he would never miss a chance to kick up the dust on the dance floor with whoever was willing, but especially with Joan. In his later years he recommitted in a note to his “wonderful wife”: “Oh the days dwindle down to a precious few; September November; And these few precious days I’ll spend with you; These precious days I’ll spend with you”.
And he did. He leaves his wife Joan, the love of his life for almost 70 years, daughter Mary Elizabeth (m. Stephen Keast), son John Robert (m. Ellen McRae), grandchildren Megan and Michael Chapman, step-grandchildren Aimee, Scott, Melanie, and Edward Ruttle, and great-grandchildren Makala, Lou, and Finn. He also leaves many nieces and nephews and their families, who were always checking in on Unca John, and many, many friends and acquaintances whose lives he touched. Generous and encouraging of his children and grandchildren in following their own paths, he was the main reason that all were able to embark on their own careers and achieve success in their own way.
A celebration of John’s life will be held at a later date.
If so desired and as your expression of sympathy, memorial donations may be made to the Meaford Hospital Foundation or a charity of one’s choice through the Ferguson Funeral Home, 48 Boucher St. E., Meaford, ON N4L 1B9 where condolences may also be shared at: www.fergusonfuneralhomes.ca
- First Name : John
- Last Name : Lounds
- Funeral Home : Ferguson Funeral Home, Meaford
- URL : https://fergusonfuneralhomes.ca/obituary/john-campbell-lounds/
