We regret to advise of the death of Major John McDermott Sinclair, CD (Ret’d) On Thursday, 18 June 2020 in Kelowna BC at the age of 89 after a short decline in health. John served in uniform for 30 years, the majority of time being served with the Army Survey Establishment/Mapping and Charting Establishment.
John was born in Innisfail AB and spent his childhood and youth in Vancouver BC where he attended St. George's School and then King Edward High School. John joined the Royal Canadian Engineers at age 18 and then spent 30 years with the military, from his youthful days mapping Canada's north when surveying parties travelled by horseback and lived in tents, to hitting the books and studying for his command.
As a young sapper, John joined 1 Field Squadron in Petawawa ON for his first tour after completing his basic Field Engineer training at the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering in Chilliwack BC. John then remustered to the surveying trade and joined the Army Survey Establishment in 1950 where he served the majority of his career.
Starting in Field Survey, his field survey work eventually included: Gimli, MB (1954), Calgary area and Banks Island (1955), Yorkton, SK (1957), Vancouver BC(1959), and Hall Beach, Yellowknife YK satellite survey (1966).
John was attached to the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering in Chilliwack BC in 1963 where he instructed a course of Royal Canadian Air Force draftsmen. After this assignment, he was promoted to Warrant Officer and assigned to Training Wing as an instructor. John was commissioned to the rank of Lieutenant in 1967 and assigned to the Director-General of Environment and Operational Services.
John was assigned to Royal Military College, Kingston as an Assistant Instructor in Spring 1969 after which he proceeded on a two-year exchange in Bendigo, Australia with the Royal Australian Survey Corps. During this exchange, he was promoted to Captain in 1970.
John returned to Mapping and Charting Establishment in 1971 and became the Administrative Officer in 1972. He retired from the Canadian Forces in 1973 and then returned to Australia where he joined the Australian Survey Corps. He served first with the Army Survey Regiment in Bendigo, Victoria, then with the School of Military Survey in Bonegilla, Victoria as a Major
When he retired from that service in 1978 he settled in Regina SK and worked in the oil patch before finally retiring to Kelowna BC in 1992.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Royal Canadian Legion would be appreciated. Online condolences may be sent to the family through the funeral home.
