John was born in Kitchener, ON in 1934 to the late Katharina (Zay) and John Melzer.
After attending Ryerson, he spent his entire career at Hammonds Manufacturing in Guelph. In 1960, he married Cleo Petrany and in 1966 they bought a beautiful property in Puslinch Township where they lived happily for 55 years.
John was industrious and always working on projects around the property and planted hundreds of trees. He built a shack in the woods, complete with heat and electricity, where friends and family warmed up after snowmobiling or skating on the pond. It was the site of many gatherings. Summer vacations were spent with his sister the late Wilhelmine Hofman (Albert) and her family at the family cottage near Wasaga Beach.
John participated in a number of activities over the years including hockey, bowling, snooker, horseshoes, fishing, hunting, and golf. For a number of years, he hosted the party after the Hammond’s golf tournament. He enjoyed cheering on his son Mike’s baseball teams, Thursday evenings at the Guelph Legion with Inglis Berry, and fishing trips with his brother-in-law Joe Petrany and other friends. There were many road trips to the US to visit relatives Dr. Zoltan and Joan Petrany and a family trip to Hawaii to visit Mike and his wife Marisa.
In his later years, John was legally blind and lived a quiet life but never missed a family get-together. Books on CD from the Guelph Public Library brought him many hours of enjoyment.
In 2023, John and Cleo moved to Guelph to be close to their daughter, Melody. John enjoyed the new location and spent many afternoons on the front porch soaking in the sun with his granddog Sid.
He will be greatly missed by Cleo, Melody, and Mike as well as by his extended family and friends.
A visitation will be held at the WALL-CUSTANCE FUNERAL HOME & CHAPEL, 206 Norfolk St., Guelph, on Saturday, March 15, 2025 from 2:00-4:00pm.
Arrangements entrusted to the WALL-CUSTANCE FUNERAL HOME & CHAPEL 519-822-0051 / www.wallcustance.com.
Memorial contributions to a charity of your choice would be appreciated.
A tree will be planted in memory of John R. Melzer in the Wall-Custance Memorial Forest.