September 17, 1952 – May 9, 2019
WINDUS, John Edward – John died peacefully, in his 67th year, at the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice on the morning of May 9th, 2019 after a long and difficult struggle with glioblastoma. He was loved and supported by his wife April Zebroski, children Zachary Windus, and Veronica and Mark Dyer; mother-in-law Alice Zebroski; sister-in-law Carol Donahoe and her family Andrea Dorman and Daren Hockaday, Tyler, Alicia and Gabe, Laura Donahoe, and David Lindley; sister-in-law Liz and Tom O’Brien, Jennifer, Heather and Sarah. John will be greatly mourned by his mother Velma Windus, his sisters and their families: Barbara and Robert Root, Joyce and Roger Touw, Jeannie and Steve Grundy, Rene and Ken Rayner. He was greeted in heaven by his father Ed Windus, father-in-law Eddie Zebroski, beloved brother Michael Zebroski, infant brother James and sweet and most precious niece Scarlett. He left behind an extensive Polish family and many friends who will always miss him. John touched many lives as a teacher and principal with the Hamilton Wentworth Catholic District School Board. He enjoyed his post-retirement life as an award-winning photographer with Lifetouch. He really enjoyed his post-post-retirement life watching sports on his big screen TV with his four cats. He sang in the choir at St. Joseph’s and was a member of their Parish Council. We will always remember the incredible support we received from family and friends who drove us to Princess Margaret Hospital, fed us many delicious meals, looked after our cats, and comforted us during so many times of great sorrow. Visitation will take place at the Turner Family Funeral Home in Dundas on Sunday May 12th from 2-4 and 7-9 with Vigil Prayers at 8. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Hamilton, on Monday May 13th at 11am. Interment to follow at Woodland Cemetery. John spent the last five weeks of his life being lovingly cared for by the staff of the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice. We would greatly appreciate donations in his name to this remarkable facility. John’s quick wit and mischievous spirit will be greatly missed. Heaven will resound with the sound of his laughter.
God bless you John! Your kindness, humour, gentle ways will be missed by your family, friends and colleagues. Your family is in my prayers.
When we lose a loved one here on earth, we gain an angel in heaven that watches over us. May you take comfort in knowing that you have an angel to watch over you now. Children eventually forget what they read in books but they will always remember how awesome a teacher was. Thanks Mr. Windus for being just that and making a impact on my life. I was a grade 6 student from St Thomas School Waterdown 41 years ago 1978
I worked with John at LifeTouch and want to Express my condolences to the family. John was so much fun to work with and I am very sad to receive this sad news
I worked with John for many years at LifeTouch. He was a great coworker that could always make you laugh and was very quick witted. I first met John when he was a principal in waterdown in my first year at LifeTouch, then a few years went by when he retired from the Catholic school board and started working for LifeTouch. His sense of humour and kind heartedness is a rarity nowadays and I was extremely saddened to hear this news. Rest in peace my good friend until we meet again
God bless you, Mr. Windus. Thank you for for always welcoming me into your home with so much warmth and kindness. You and your beautiful family, especially my beloved friend Zach, gave me a feeling of home during my university years. You were all a very special part of that unique time of life and I am forever grateful. All of my love to the Windus family during this incredibly difficult time.
I had the pleasure of working with John at St. Joseph School. He was an amazing, caring and kind person. We had many great laughs in the office. He was known for his great hugs. He was so supportive when my husband was ill and I will never forget how compassionate he was to me and my family.
April, Zachary and Veronica and family, you are all in my prayers.
Maureen MacKenzie
I was devastated to hear of John’s passing. I taught with John at St. Thomas School in Waterdown in the early 80’s.
I remember him as a passionate, funny, and dedicated educator who always brought a smile to our faces.
May the songs of the angels bring you home.
God bless,
Karen Sullivan
Mr. Windus will forever be lovingly remembered as a loving and positive impact on my life. He helped guide me through some difficult times as my grade 7 teacher at St. Catherine of Siena school. I kept in touch for many years and would often visit him at the different schools he worked at. Forever in my heart and a better person for having known you.
Mr. Windus was an incredible teacher who greatly touched me and several of my closest friends. We had the pleasure of having him as our 7th & 8th grade teacher at St. Joe’s. I will forever recall the kindness he showed to me and my family. My parents went through a divorce during my time in his class and he was incredibly kind and compassionate. One of my favorite memories is when my mother and I became Canadian citizens and Mr. Windus threw me a little celebratory party in the class complete with a homemade Canadian flag cake. It was so thoughtful and had a deep impact on me. I live in Amsterdam and have just heard of his passing. My deepest condolences to his family. He will be very missed.
Mr.Windus was my absolute favorite teacher of all time. I haven’t seen him in 25 years, but I have thought of him often. I hardly recognize him in the picture because it’s been so long. I know I am late, but I am just seeing this now and I too would like to share my condolences to his family. He was a special man who took his role(s) in the community to heart and always went above and beyond. When my mom was in coma and I refused to leave her side the C.A.S told him to fail me to teach me a lesson or whatever. He instead offered to tutor me, and he started coming to my house three times a week to work with me, which allowed me to pass with my class and not be held back. He tried to get me to go to graduation, and I regret not going. I did see him again one more time though to say good bye, and say thank you, so I am grateful that I did get to share that with him.
When I was in his class the school had a bake sale around valentine’s day (except it was a draw where you would win the cakes, not buy them). Many families had donated a home made cake for the raffle, and everyone in the whole school had been buying these tickets 3 for a dollar for weeks. I forget what they were raising money for again, but for the students it was more about the competition of which class sold the most, which person bought the most, and who would win and get to pick out a cake to take home with them. I was the only person in the class (and possibly the school) who neither had the money to contribute a cake, nor did I have 50 cents to buy a raffle ticket. So the morning of the draw, last minute he runs downstairs to the office and he’s gone for some time. He comes back with a single raffle ticket for each student, as he said it was our valentine’s day gift from him. It was pretty lucky that out of the several thousand tickets sold the very first number called in the raffle was mine. At the time I thought nothing of it, I was just seriously excited about having won, and getting to bring home a cake. I also got first pick from a table of dozens of treats. It took me years to realize that he had rigged the draw. Looking back it was so obvious as his face betrayed him, he was waiting for my number to be called, and to see my reaction. He knew what a hard time I was having, and he knew how bad off my family was at the moment, so it was a pretty big deal to me. He was an awesome person. I appreciated everything he ever did for me. I won’t ever forget him.
To his family, if they see this as it’s been a little over a year now since he passed, my heart goes out to you for your loss. I hope you can take comfort in knowing how important he was to the people around him and how many lives he touched, mine included. I wanted to share that story with you so that you might understand how hard he worked to protect, encourage, and inspire his students.
Rest In Peace Mr. Windus and Thank You!!!