John Walker Hayden

October 4, 1951 - November 14, 2023

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of John Walker Hayden during the early morning of November 14th, 2023, surrounded by his family at Ed’s House, in a compassionate and peaceful setting. John was born on October 4th, 1951 in Cobourg, Ontario, son of John Gordon and Gladys Alma Hayden, and a direct descendant of the Reverend William Hayden (1789-1865), a lineage marked by a solemn cairn lying just north of Cobourg, in Cold Springs.

John was the beloved husband of Adriana (née Grande) for forty-five years of faithful marriage, loving father of John Justin Hayden (Gabrielle Magro) and Julia Victoria Hayden (Frank Takacs), grandfather of Benjamin Alexander Forsyth Hayden, brother of Marion “Dodie” Pirie (Donald Pirie) and uncle to their daughter, Jennifer McKinley (Peter McKinley) and their daughters, Lauren and Mara. He was nephew to Eva Walker and cousin to her children, Michael and Andrea, and cousin to Lynne Schooley and her daughters, Janet and Tricia, and was preceded in death by many loving members of his family, including Dennis and Margaret. John was the brother-in-law of Angelo Grande (Anna Grande) and uncle to their children Lauren and Adam, cherished by Adriana’s Italian-Canadian family in Hamilton, Ontario, especially by her parents, the late Ugo and Maria Grande of Locke St., and by the Gallo, Bommarito and Corti families. He was immensely proud of his grandson, having been deeply involved in seeing him through to his thirteenth year—and Benjamin called him “Nonno” (Italian for “grandfather”). Above all, he placed his family first.

A graduate of Trent University (Hons. B.A., History) and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto (B.Ed.), John was a serious reader of modern political and military history—especially of the Napoleonic era, the American Civil War and the world wars of the twentieth century. As an elementary school educator devoted to his community (at Burnham, Grant Sine, Terry Fox and Dr. M.S. Hawkins public schools) he found the most accomplishment and sense of pride in working so successfully with students experiencing challenges, as a special education teacher with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. His devotion to history and the teaching profession was matched by his love of sports (particularly basketball—he was a longtime fan of the Boston Celtics) and coaching (including serving as part of the coaching staff of the champion Cobourg Angels women’s softball team of the mid-1980s). He will be remembered and greatly missed by his family, friends and colleagues and hundreds of his former students, whose lives he touched.

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Please join us at MacCoubrey Funeral Home, 30 King Street East, Cobourg, for a visitation on Friday, November 17th, 2023, from 2-4 PM or 7-9 PM. Cremation and a private interment ceremony will follow at a later time, at the Hayden plot at Union Cemetery in Cobourg.

Donations in his memory may be made to Ed’s House Northumberland Hospice Care Centre.

reprinted courtesy MacCoubrey Funeral Home