In Memorium - John Chanyi

John Chanyi passed away on June 21, 2020. Father’s Day. Hard to forget that.

Rest

in

Peace

Dear

John

-

may

the

many

canine

friends

who

have

gone

before

you

keep

you

company

on

your

new

journey. You are remembered fondly in our hearts.

Joanne & John 1962

Here are some memories of John from his White Shepherd family:

Whenever

I

think

of

John

I

automatically

think

of

raffle

tickets.

John

would

get

swarmed

by

all

us

ladies

with

money

in

hand

and

just

give

us

a

smile.

The

colour

of

the

tickets

was

pretty

important

and

we

all

had

our

method

of

keeping

track

of

our

tickets

-

but

John

always

knew

that

if

a

new

colour

of

tickets

was

brought

out

we'd

all

be

running

to

him.

Come

to

think

of

it,

he

had

us

all

pretty

well

trained

as

we

always

went

in

search of John with the raffle tickets while he could just sit and be comfortable waiting for us to show up.

Lynn Potts

I

always

looked

forward

to

my,

"John

hug"

when

we

got

to

Hoofprint.

Loved

his

smile

and

the

twinkle

in

his

eyes.

I

can’t

give

you

a

specific

memory - but he was a sweet man.

Carol Fryer

I

loved

John

from

the

first

moment

I

met

him

when

I

was

in

my

20's

showing

a

friend's

White

Shepherd.

He

was

a

character

like

none

I'd

ever

knew.

Sweet, but gruff.

Kind, but fierce.

Warm, but stern.

Quiet, but well heard.

Unassuming, but highly respected.

He

welcomed

me

as

a

stranger

that

weekend

but

always

as

a

friend

after

that.

I

looked

forward

to

his,

"super-duper-

wide"

smile

each

year

at

the WSCC Nationals, but his bear hugs were my absolute favorite.

Shannon Seeger

I

have

soooo

many

memories

and

stories

of

John.

But

I

have

to

be

good,

so

I'll

only

list

a

couple

that

come

to

mind.

We

went

to

a

gun

show

(flea

market)

in

the

Detroit

area

one

Saturday.

While

we

were

there,

John

purchased

a

lot

of

gun

supplies

for

reloading

and

shooting

because

he

was

a

gun

enthusiast.

Cost:

$125

US

dollars.

He

stashed

all

of

his

purchases

under

his

seat.

I

purchased

a

Sandstone

statue

for

Susan.

Cost:$45. As we approached the border crossing, John

said

don't

tell

them

that

I

have

anything

underneath

my

seat.

I

said,

"Okay,

no

problem."

We

stopped

at

the

customs

agent

and

he

asked

if

we

had

anything

to

declare?

John

said,

"No!

I

don't

but

he

does!"

After

throwing

me

under

the bus, I had to pay a GST tax on my $45 purchase. John laughed all the way home!

Another

time,

we

went

to

feed

John's

son

Wayne's

horses

because

he

was

out

of

town.

On

the

way

back,

we

came

across

an

accident

site

where

a

car

went

off

the

road

and

into

a

ditch.

We

stopped

to

see

what

happened

and

found

a

case

and

a

half

of

beer

hidden

in

the

tall

grass

(Labatts Blue). John said "Let's take this back to the show coz we can make some money!"

I miss John.

Jim Ewart

I first meet him 25 plus years ago. My first impression was a rather grumpy older guy who put up with all these dogs and people who showed up at his place. The saying, “never judge a book by its cover” proved true with John. He tended to have a ‘crusty’ outside but John had a big soft inside that shined through as one got to know him and even more so as age crept up on him. As the years went by I looked forward to my once or twice year visits to Hoofprint and always sought out John to see what he had been up to. From putting up new accommodations for the dog show folks, to setting up his garage to work on things (and moving things around and covering that up for the dog shows) to cooking food for all - he was always up to something. He always had time to talk and as the years went by I looked forward to those conversations more and more. When this world gets back to ‘normal’ again and I go back to Hoofprint, it won’t be the same, but the memories of John and the times with him will never be forgotten. This was one of the last pictures I took of John, doing what he enjoyed the best at those shows, cooking for others. As time went on for him, he slowed down, but his smile and friendship only grew. Those of us who got to know you John are better for it - and I look forward to seeing you and catching up on things again. Maurice Seeger When I heard of John's passing, I was deeply saddened. It really bothered me that I was unable to attend the last WSCC dog show. I thought to myself that I should have been there... I regretted not finding a way to make it work as I realized I would not get to see John, "just one more time". I felt sad for Joanne and Lynda and the rest of John's family and friends because he was their devoted husband, dad and very good friend to many. For myself, I will remember John with very fond memories of John's smile. The way he showed his kindness to me when I was at the WSCC shows. The fact that he came over to chat to me (when I was the newbie at the time) and made me feel so comfortable to be there. John offered up his assistance when I was there with the camper I rented. I will miss John's meals of course! I will miss watching John as he really seemed to love to cook up a storm for everyone and his smile as everyone sat down to eat it. I was always sad to leave the show and say goodbye for another year even though I have only been to the show three times. In that time, I feel I made friends... and grew very fond of John, Joanne, Lynda and so many other people, who are so special. God speed John, I wish I would have been at the last show for just a bit more time and fond memories. You will always have a place in my heart. XO Lea Wouters I have so many MANY fun memories of John. I could write for hours {smiling}. One of the funniest, and most memorable memories I have of John is when he drew a mustache on my face with black, non-erasable ink! John was running his famous raffle at the National on a hot August day. I had been trying to quench my thirst with ice cold beer all day and by the time the raffle drawing was ready to start, I was feeling pretty, “happy!” (Kinda’ numb). The garage was full of raffle enthusiasts and John decided he was going to pull a fast one on me. He slithered over to where I was (now) leaning on one of the stoves and pulled out this marker. He was pretending to draw a mustache on my face. I didn’t believe he would ever do such a thing, despite the fact that he was giggling and giggling and laughing so hard. Well, there is a photo of his work of art somewhere in the newsletter archives. Such a gentle, sweet soul and I feel so grateful to have had years of a friendship. Miss you, John. XOX Susan Ewart When we got the call that John had passed away, we could not believe it - not John - he has been through so many things and always pulled through. But it was true, he had left us. Memories will always remain and the smiles he put on our faces at dog shows, dinners, those long arms length raffle ticket, all his machinery he would have to move out of the garage so that the show could go on - so many things. His love for Joanne and family and animals I was easy to see. John I wish we could have said goodbye but know you are always in my heart. Say HI to Marion for me. Sheila Sampson

John

Chanyi

was

born

February

10,

1941

in

Tillsonburg,

ON.

For

most

of

his

life

he

was

a

farmer,

but

he

also

managed

an

oil

field,

worked

in

a

saw

mill,

and

was

a

welder.

When

Joanne

was

asked

how

he

supported

her

and

the

dogs

…

her

reply

was,

“he

never

said

no.”

Then

she

changed

that

to,

“he

never

said

no

to

me

about

buying

any

animals,

except

for

the

monkeys.

He

said

not

to

bring one home.” So she brought home two.

John

and

Joanne

were

both

raised

in

Fairground,

Ontario

and

met

at

a

wedding

shower.

They

moved

to

a

farm

in

Alvinston,

Ontario

in

1978

where

they

raised

their

two

sons,

Wayne

and

Allan.

And

we

can’t

forget

Lynda

Proulx

-

they

had

a

hand

in

raising

her

too

because

she

moved

in

with

them

in

1992.

The

farm

was

Hoofprint

Farm,

and

Joanne

grew

her

White

Shepherd

breeding

program there.