Obituary
John passed away peacefully on June 9th in St. Albert after an eleven month battle with colon cancer.
John is survived by his wife of 31 years, Lucienne; his sister Caroline (Geoff) Seaton; his son Charles (Caroline) Colbourne and their children Georgie, Nick, Peter and Isabelle; daughter Tanya (Themos) Tsikas and their children Taisie, George, Sofia,and Olya; son Jack (Sarah) Colbourne and their daughter Ellie; and his first spouse Jennifer, mother of his three children.
John was born in Leamington Spa, England and attended Rugby School (where four of his grandchildren are current or former students). He trained as an engineer initially at Cambridge University and received his PhD from Stanford. He started his career with Arup, the British engineering firm, where he worked on the structural design of the Sydney Opera House.
In 1967 John emigrated to Canada, taking up a position at the University of Alberta where he was Professor of Mechanical Engineering until his retirement in 1995. He presented research papers at many international conferences, and in 1987 published his major academic work, The Geometry of Involute Gears.
After retirement, John and Lucienne travelled widely, particularly to Arizona where they had a home, and enjoyed playing golf and tennis. John continued to do research in gear design, and was actively involved in a gear venture, Genesis Partners, until a month before his death.
Cremation has taken place. A Celebration of John’s Life will be held at a later date.
