Article about my Papa

My Papa is currently battling Alzheimer's Disease and currently lives in a nursing home. I was asked to write an article about my Papa to be published in the Aspen Lakes Echo, a publication that talks about what is happening at the home as well as contains articles about those who live there. Here it is:



John McCloy; an extraordinary person to say the least. John was born in Ayr, Ontario in 1941 and raised in Kitchener, Ontario. You've heard of the girl next door, but how about the girl across the street? In 1959 John married Val, the girl who lived right across from him. Their marriage was and still is full of love, laughter and especially as of recently, support. John and Val gave life to three wonderful children; Chris, Debbie, and John Jr. They are also lucky to have a loving son-in law, Jeff and a lovely daughter-in-law, Katy. All three of their children have grown up to be admirable, influential parents who have done an effective job of passing on strong family values to John and Val's five grandchildren; Stefani, Jourdan, Chelsea, Brett, and Mitchell.

John has had a very successful career. At the age of 11, enticed by the 10 cents an hour, John started working at a bakery. This job quickly turned into a passion which turned into a career. John started working for Weston Bakeries in 1969. With dedication and a strong work ethic, John became the Production Manager of the Weston Bakeries location in Essex, ON in 1975. Johns life-long career has allowed him to work and live in several different Ontario cities including Kitchener, Windsor, Mississauga, and Cobourg. Val always stuck by his side and was extremely supportive of all John's career opportunities. John retired several times, but his love for working couldn't be tamed and he returned to work until he finally retired for good in Windsor, Ontario. John was such an extremely invaluable asset to Weston Bakeries and a short biography dedicated to his work was printed on the bag of Weston Bakeries Hot Crossed Buns and English Muffins.

John, a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, loves hockey as he played it as a kid. He also enjoys bowling; John and Val used to be in a bowling league together. John is also an incredible Euchre player. There is no doubt that John's favourite thing to do was to spend time at his cottage in Katrine, Ontario. He took excellent care of his beloved cottage and here he explored his love for fishing, boating, and campfires. What he most loved about the cottage were the times when the entire family would come up for a week and spend good quality time together.

John, known to his five grandchildren as Papa, holds his grandchildren close to his heart. He is a captivating story teller, especially when it came to bedtime stories. He never had trouble getting his grandchildren to go to bed as he would tell them they would turn into pumpkins if they didn't. Whenever it came time to tuck his grand-daughters in, he always began his stories with “once upon a time in a land far, far away, there were three beautiful girls.” Whenever these beautiful girls would wear their hair in a ponytail, he would always lift it up and look for a horse's bottom. He taught his grandsons valuable lessons including how to fish and how to make it appear as if you are swallowing a whole egg and having it come out your bottom. He is always looking to provide entertainment for his grandchildren, whether it is by pulling out his teeth or teaching us how to beat the next level in Donkey Kong.

Aside from all the jokes and witty lines, John is an extremely loving person and is very proud of his family. His contagious sense of humour coinciding with his admirable wisdom has helped properly raise not only three wonderful children of his own but five well-rounded grandchildren who are so very grateful for the love and creativity their Papa has brought and continues to bring into their lives.

When John was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, his family only grew closer and stronger. The dedicated care John's entire family provided for him proved how tight-knit they are. John's family devoted all of their attention on helping John adapt to the changes and confusion he was feeling. John was admitted into Aspen Lakes in 2011. Val, being the committed and nurturing wife she has always been is a tremendous support and she visits him six times a week. His family is extremely grateful for the wonderful caregivers that provide John with great personal care. They are so appreciative and cannot express this enough.

Thanks for reading :)

xo chelsea grace