It is with profound sadness and much love that we mourn the passing of John Charles Switzer, of Hamilton on March 23, 2026 at the age of 71 years. John was born June 27, 1954 in Orangeville, Ontario. John will be greatly missed by his wife of 41 years, Diana Gordon; his children Emily (Thomas) Switzer and Connor Switzer; his beloved mother, Dorothy (the late Jack) Switzer; and siblings Michael (Sherry) Switzer and Karen (Michael) Switzer. John brought humour and compassion to all he knew. An avid traveller, reader, gardener and lifelong learner, he attended the University of Toronto, York University, the University of Guelph and McMaster University studying Archaeology and Computer Science. On an archaeological dig in Simcoe County, John met the love of his life, Diana, a former U. of T. classmate. He took pride in his work as a software engineer, including the past 20 years at IMAX. John was devoted to his children. He never missed a lunch-time pickup, graduation, concert, or any other event in his children’s lives. He was a constant source of love, reassurance and strength for his family. John’s happiest times were at home building something and in his garden with his family. A Celebration of Life to honour John will be held at a future date. Donations can be made in John’s name to Mission Services of Hamilton (196 Wentworth St N, Hamilton, ON, L8L 7W2). The family wishes to send a special thank you to the staff at Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre for their care and kindness.
My condolences to the family. John will be missed by many! You had an immense impact on IMAX John, long before my time but your legacy is in every movie we show ♥️
My condolences to the family and god give strength to everyone to cope up with the loss. John, may your soul rest in peace and it was an honour working with you.
Without you, MPP launch would have not been possible 🙁 you will truly be missed and such a loss to IMAX as well
My sincere condolences to the family. John, you were one of the greatest human beings I have ever met and had the pleasure to work with. My only regret is that we never got to meet you in person. May your honest soul rest in peace.
My sincere condolences to John’s family. I had the privilege of working with John over many years, and he made a lasting impact through his contributions and dedication. He brought not only deep technical insight, but also kindness, patience, and a calm, thoughtful presence that made him a pleasure to work with. John was someone you could always rely on, no matter the challenge. He will be deeply missed. May he rest in peace.
I don’t know how to write these things. So here’s what I know.
John saw my name in an old repo once and emailed me just to say hi. No reason. Just because. That’s who he was. We worked together for years and never met. He was in Canada, I was in Bosnia. Didn’t matter. Every morning, same call, same John. He told me he missed my dry sense of humor after I left (he was the only one who thought I was funny). I know the world got quieter without him. May his beautiful soul rest in peace.
I worked in the same workplace as John for nearly 20 years. He was a wonderful professional, and I learned a great deal from him. John was also a sincere and caring person, and I had great respect for him. It is my greatest pride to have been John’s colleague and friend.
I had the pleasure of working alongside John for about two years, and he was, without a doubt, one of the nicest people I have ever worked with. The level of calmness, generosity, and humor he brought with him is hard to describe. You had to experience it to understand it. He was a wonderful human being and he will be missed.
I had the privilege of working with John Switzer for the past five years. He was not only a great colleague but also a person from whom we could all learn. I am deeply saddened that he is no longer with us. Rest in peace, John.
My sincere condolences Diana, I know how big a part of your life John was, and I know how much you will miss his presence in your day to day. Be gentle with yourself in this time of grief.
Sending big supportive hugs to you and Connor and Emily.
John had such a remarkable spirit.
Through out his illness this past year he was so very determined and had a positive outlook with an ever growing to do list.
He was a true gentleman.
Noah and I had tremendous respect for him .
Peace and love to Diana, Connor and Emily and to all that knew John🕺
We are so sad for your loss and send our sincerest condolences to your family. Hugs and much love to you all.
I had the pleasure to be able to spend time with John every week at the gym. He was a person that I always looked forward to seeing. We had many laughs, he was kind and he had this gentleness to him.
Diana, Conner and Emily I am sending you hugs during this difficult time.
I was very saddened to hear about John’s passing. He was such a great man and it showed in his passion for his work at IMAX. The work he did will shine in film forever. God bless and condolences to his family.
John and I dug together many years ago. He was a great companion. My deepest sympathy to Diana and their children.
My deepest sympathy to Diana and her family. I remember John’s affection for his wife when I met him in Lake Temagami during the late 1980s when he would entrust his beloved wife, a true explorer at heart, to the wilderness. John left a sound impression on me: This was a person you could trust and would be there for you during any kind of circumstance. And the intellect was obvious.
My condolences Diana. Words just can’t describe it.
Brad
Hey friend. It’s been so hard to write something. It feels immensely unfair – I was so lucky to experience your friendship and camaraderie in chaos; working with you was always a pleasure. I loved your sense of humour and kindness, your levelheaded responses to ridiculous situations and your brilliance at navigating the most convoluted projects. Thank you for being so generous with your knowledge, for always making sure every individual’s work was seen and valued, something especially appreciated by the women in leadership. I would not have had the career I did without you. Thank you for setting the bar for what to expect from colleagues, for just being a wonderful human. My heart goes out to your family and friends; you are overwhelmingly missed.
I was lucky to have hired John back in the 80’s, when we were all young and idealistic, to help us build a revolutionary new software tool … known today as a spreadsheet. John was the core, unstoppable force in getting this product built. It was his baby, and he took to it like a dog to a bone, so much so that he got very ill right before a major conference in Las Vegas, where we were going to unveil this category-killer app, and all get rich … but the software was still buggy. (Those were the days when you didn’t release whatever garbage you had written, and then do updates every ten minutes! Besides, John had WAY too much pride of ownership! With John, the software always had to be perfect!)
So, I told the CEO that I wasn’t going to bring John to Vegas, and we would just have to wing it. This got back to John, and he simply wouldn’t stand for it! He was going to Vegas, even if in an ambulance. Indeed, he went, and kept the software limping along in our demos, even manned the booth during parts of the day, only to continue debugging the software in his room at night and then try to sleep off the fever.
The product never saw the light of day, thanks to horrible management and getting lapped by Microsoft and their nascent Excel product. But this had nothing to do with John, whom I coaxed into following me into my next effort to change the world of digital advertising. We worked together all the way into the mid 90s, when that went bankrupt, and then lost touch.
John was a true master of his trade. He was one of the most intelligent people I ever knew, a superbly skilled programmer, and a wonderful human being. Always cool and calm under the worst possible time pressure, he was a pleasure to work with and come to know as a friend. I will always keep his memory in a special place.
My sincere condolences to Diana and the children. You should all take great comfort and pride in knowing that your husband and father was a true pioneer in the software world, highly respected and admired by all of his superiors and coworkers. May he rest in peace.
This is John’s wife, Diana Gordon, writing to thank all of you for your kind, thoughtful and heartfelt responses to John’s life and his passing. You have touched our hearts in a profound way. It is wonderful to discover that the man, the husband and the father that we knew was the same soul that you encountered. John would be humbled by your praise; unaware of his impact. A shy man, an introvert in many ways, he truly enjoyed working or meeting or knowing you all as individuals. You have enriched him and us in many ways. Peace and Love to all.