Richard Glenn Guyatt

RICHARD GLENN GUYATT, BA Sc., BA Ed. A proud and gentle man, Glenn passed peacefully in the late evening of September 13th 2019. He was the beloved husband of Doris Guyatt and the dearly loved father of Richard and his wife Evelyn, Leslie and her husband Stephen, Neil and his wife Marlene, and Alan and his wife Ruth. Glenn was quietly proud of his four grandchildren April, Christine, Jack, and Derek. He is also survived by his sisters-in-laws Blanka Guyatt and Doris Sloan Guyatt, as well as numerous nephews and nieces of the Guyatt clan, all of whom he held dear. He was pre-deceased by his parents, his wife of 61 years, and his three siblings: Grace, John and Gordon.

Glenn enrolled in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940, serving with distinction and attaining the rank of Corporal. He served within the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan at Air Bases in Greenwood, Nova Scotia and Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he trained as an aero-engine technician, servicing and flying as a test technician on Hurricane and Mosquito Bomber aircraft. Immediately after demobilization in 1945, he attended the University of Western Ontario, where he met his future wife.

A gifted teacher, after graduation in 1949, he began his professional career in a one room school house in a rural community near Hamilton, Ontario. In the fall of 1951, he accepted a teaching position in the Toronto School Board at Wexford Public School, (Willowdale), and then at George Peck Public School (Scarborough) where he was promoted to Vice Principal. He applied and received his Principalship in the York Region Board of Education, opening the Baythorn Public School (Thornhill) in 1969 and completed his career at the Dixon Hill District Public School (Markham), retiring in 1983.

When not teaching Glenn enjoyed working with his hands. He purchased property on Looncall Lake, North Kawartha in 1958 and proceeded to build a family cottage, a place the extended family enjoyed year round on weekends and for summer vacations. Glenn never lost his love of flying, acquiring his pilot license in 1984, flying Cessna 172 aircraft out of the Buttonville Municipal Airport. He built his own Ultralight air plane in 1986, along with a hangar to house it at the cottage. His other passions included music and curling; he conducted the Public School Boys choirs, sang in the Toronto Men’s Teachers Choir and the Scarborough Choral Society, and was a life-long member of the Thornhill Curling Club.

In accordance with his wishes, cremation has taken place. The family pays great tribute to the staff of the Canterbury Gardens Retirement Residence and to those of Kane-Jerrett Funeral Home, Thornhill. Their care and kindness is greatly appreciated and will be remembered by all the family.

If friends so desire, a donation in Glenn’s name to the either the Sunnybrook Hospital Health Sciences Centre - Odette Cancer Program or to the Toronto General Hospital - Peter Munk Cardiac Centre would be greatly appreciated by the family.

A celebration of Glenn’s life will be held on Saturday, October 26th, 2019 from 1p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kane-Jerrett Funeral Home, 8088 Yonge Street, Thornhill, Ontario, L4J 1W3 (905-889-8889)