We regret to advise of the death of John Raymond Fiske in Halifax NS on 22 March 2022, just shy of his 96th birthday. John served in the infantry during the Second World War but did not succeed in two attempts to get overseas.
Born in Clarence NS, John grew up on the family farm and lumber mill and attended high school in Annapolis Royal. After completing Grade 11, instead of returning to the farm, he became a surveyor's assistant at the HMCS Cornwallis. He eventually became a surveyor.
With Canada at war in 1943 and at age 17, John presented himself at the Kentville Armoury and enlisted in the Canadian Army. For the next 20 months he trained to be an infantry soldier and became an instructor at his training camp in Yarmouth. He was on his way to board the ship in Halifax to go overseas when he and his fellow soldiers were taken off the train and shipped to the training base at Camp Debert NS. The war in Europe ended two weeks later. On 25 May 1945, John volunteered for the war in the Pacific and moved to Edmunston NB for more training. But the war in the Pacific ended while he was in Edmunston.
John was discharged from the Army In September 1945 and soon enrolled at Acadia University under the Canadian Officer Training Corps earning an engineering diploma two years later. He played varsity and became a member of the Acadia Hockey Honour Roll. John went on to Nova Scotia Technical College to earn his degree in Civil Engineering.
John then worked for a time for the Nova Scotia Department of Highways as a resident engineer of construction. He left the department for a consulting position on what he thought was going to be the DEW Line (Distant Early Warning system) but instead, ended up in the requisitioning department which he did not like at all. Needing to return to Halifax for family reasons, he returned to Nova Scotia in 1956 where he became the Assistant Registrar of Motor Vehicles. Under the auspices of the Traffic Division, he was able to graduate in Traffic Engineering from the Bureau of Highway Traffic at Yale University and went on to become Provincial Traffic Engineer.
John laier received a Doctorate Degree in Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS) and went on to complete many high-profile development projects, with land development becoming his strength. He formed Stevens & Fiske Construction Ltd, was a founding member of Truefoam and was president and owner of Piercey's Supplies for many years.
John was a visionary and had foresight like no other when it came to land purchases and concepts for future development. The highlight of his career was his launching the restoration of Historic Properties and Keith's Brewery in Halifax, a project that deeply enhanced the downtown core. His work provided an economic model that encouraged preservation and restoration in towns and cities throughout Canada. John received the Order of Canada in 1987 in recognition of his work in preserving heritage properties and the development of green spaces in Halifax, Annapolis Royal, and Ottawa.
