We regret to advise of the death of Warrant Officer First Class John Albert McArthur, CD (Ret’d), a resident of Hunt Club Manor in Ottawa, peacefully on 14 May 2021 at the Civic Hospital at the age of 95 years.
Born in Seven Bridge ON, John enlisted for the Second World War in the Royal Canadian Engineers in 1943 and served with 9th Field Squadron in Northwest Europe in Holland and Germany. He was selected for the Pacific Draft in August 1945 but did not deploy due the end of the war with Japan.
John was demobilized in October 1945. He had taken a photogrammetry course near the end of the war and he joined the post-war Permanent Force as a Topographical Surveyor in May 1947. His 20-years service with the Army Survey Establishment included his appointment as Regimental Sergeant Major (1959 - 61). John’s extensive surveying work in Canada’s North included Parsnip River, Yellowknife, Great Bear Lake, Fort Reliance, Upper Back River, Wood Buffalo, Arctic islands, Kapuskasing, and Hay River. He also deployed on a United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) mission in 1962 to survey the Israel/Syria border as part of the dispute resolution process.
After retirement from the Canadian Forces in 1967 as a Warrant Officer First Class, John joined the Surveys and Mapping Branch of Energy Mines and Resources (now Natural Resources Canada) and became Chief Administration Officer. John retired from the Public Service in 1989 as the Director of Reproduction and Distribution.
A private family Interment was held on 19 May 2021. Online condolences can be sent to the funeral home.
