Passed peacefully on Friday, September 16, 2022, surrounded by his children and in the arms of his loving wife, Sharon, just two weeks after celebrating his 80th birthday.
Born in 1942 in Worcester, Massachusetts, John moved to Toronto as a child. He enjoyed playing football and the fun during high school years at St. Michael’s College so much, that he opted to do a victory lap (grade 14). John then followed in his father’s (Casimir Nauert Herold III) footsteps attending St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, where he graduated (somewhat surprisingly given his stories of fun pranks and antics) in 1965. By then he was a newlywed - having married his sweetheart Judy in December 1964, during his final year.
John’s career began in sales at Shell, which took him from Toronto to Sudbury to Winnipeg, all while he and Judy were starting a family. They eventually settled in Sudbury (Judy’s hometown) in 1972. John quickly fell in love with the Northern Ontario outdoors and more pleasantly paced lifestyle Sudbury offered. John started his own business, Herold Supply in 1975, proudly serving the mining, construction, and forestry industries. His business legacy continues under the stewardship of his son, Todd.
John was the epitome of a family-man. He enjoyed the benefits of being an entrepreneur, always home for meals, cheering on his kids at their extracurricular events, and enjoying fun family vacations. Family dinner conversations led by John were a small business incubator of sorts, as he shared ideas and values with his children, who all went on to become entrepreneurs.
John valued his friendships intensely, as apparent in the time he spent playing golf at the Idylwylde, games of gin at the Beef’n Bird, and enjoying his “favourite week of the year” deer hunting on Manitoulin.
John cherished his time and memories in the community of Thunder Beach on Georgian Bay, vacationing there as a teenager, and later enjoying cottage time with his own young family and then grandchildren. In more recent years, John loved golfing with Sharon and their community of friends at Gulf Harbor in Fort Myers, Florida.
John had high expectations and he was feisty by nature. He loved engaging a room with stories of the antics he and his friends got up to over the years which included, stealing a car, a school bus, and a firetruck, waking up the beach by ringing the church bell late at night, and too many more to possibly share. His stories will be fondly remembered and laughed over by his children and grandchildren.
Some of John’s mottos included “Ask for a deal, the worst they will say is ‘no’”, “Better to ask forgiveness than permission” and “Walk in like you own the place”, all of these making for fun adventures. John loved to live in the moment, like getting a tattoo in his late 70s with the love of his life, and only showing it to us from his hospital bed on the day he left us – he got the last laugh.
John led by example, always ready to roll up his sleeves and help anyone, anytime with anything (he preferred duct tape over power tools) or by pulling out his wallet to generously pick up the tab, saying “I have money I haven’t spent yet”. John’s home was always open to family, friends and friends of friends, ensuring all felt welcome and at home.
John was predeceased by his first love, wife and mother of his children, Judy (2000) and his brother Rick (2016). John’s overt adoration and pride in his family will be especially missed by his devoted second wife and love, Sharon, as well as his three children Cameron (Ashley), Todd (Jody), Kristi (Dave), whose fan clubs he was the undisputed leader of. John will also be missed by his three bonus-children Ryan (Andrea), Jay (Shannon), Tim (Jen) who he loved as his own. As “Papup / Pupup / Popup” (apparently, we have no consensus on the spelling of his beloved nickname), he - along with the Scotch mints intentionally stashed in his glove compartment - will be greatly missed by his 14 grandchildren Cassidy, Aidan, Jackson, Andie, Connor, Dax, Charlie, Aaron, Keira, Braydon, Carson, Teagan, Cole and Jake as well as his 3 bonus grandchildren Nicholas, Georgia/Olivia and Iain. John, the ever mischievous, third child of six, is also survived by his older twin siblings who he shared “Irish twins” status with, Cas (Joanne) and Donna (Mike) as well as his two younger sisters Susan (Doug) and Marian (Declan).
A celebration of life will be held Thursday, Sept. 22nd, 2022, at Verdicchio’s, 1351-D Kelly Lake Rd, Sudbury. 4:30-8:30pm, visitation throughout, speeches and open mic storytelling 7pm onward.
Nothing brought greater joy to John than seeing kids playing, so if you are considering a donation in his memory, please consider supporting Keep Playing Kids (https://www.keepplayingkids.com/donate/) a national not-for-profit founded by Kristi Herold and her team at JAM, providing free sports programming for underserved children. (Arrangements entrusted to the Jackson & Barnard Funeral Home)