August 29, 1940 – November 19, 2020
After a full and happy life, John died at the age of 80 in Collingwood, where he lived for the past ten years. He will be missed terribly by Valerie, his wife and best friend of 36 years. He was proud of his children, Rob (Michelle Venton), Johanna (Woody Blackford) and his granddaughters, Abby Blackford and Scarlett Orviss. He is survived by his brother, Richard and his sister, Peggy McGillivray.
Born and raised in Toronto, he attended Rosedale School, Jarvis Collegiate and the University of Toronto. John was a Queen’s Scout and a Scoutmaster. He enjoyed tennis, hiking, skiing, biking, boating and anything else that took him outdoors. He was an avid mountaineer. Even though he had no “first ascents,” he climbed about 100 mountains in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Europe. John had an abiding love for travel. With Valerie, he visited more than 50 countries. For over 35 years, he spent summers at their cottage at Pointe au Baril on Georgian Bay. Over the past ten years, John and Valerie split their time between their houses in Collingwood and Ajijic, Mexico.
John loved conversation, had a broad range of interests and was always willing to share his knowledge. He had a large circle of friends whom he cherished. A friend recently described John as being widely admired and having civility, decorum, humour, intelligence and integrity. John often told of an elderly gentleman that he worked with early in his career who would say, “Orviss, you are a wealth of information, most of it irrelevant and all of it gratuitous.” John would laugh when he shared that story with his friends.
John’s career in the life insurance industry spanned over 50 years, mainly with Canada Life. During this time, he attended conferences globally and was highly respected in the industry. He was a Trustee of the Institute of Chartered Life Underwriters.
Thank you to Dr. Jennifer Young, Dr. Robert El Maraghi, his team, the nurses in the chemo suite at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Dr. Michael Lisi and his nurses. We are forever grateful for their excellent care and compassion.
John’s kind, caring and loving spirit will live forever in our memories. A celebration of life will take place in the future. If desired, donations may be made to the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Chatterson Funeral Home, Collingwood.