KOTZMA, John

July 19, 1926 - March 16, 2021

John "Johnnie" Kotzma passed away peacefully on March 16, 2021 in Surrey, British Columbia. He was in his 95th year.

Born on July 19, 1926 in Waldron, Saskatchewan, Johnnie moved from Waldron to Melville in his late teens to play hockey with the Melville Millionaires. He was a member of the 1951/52 Millionaire team that won the Saskatchewan Hockey League championship. It was said that Johnnie "could skate like the wind"; he was regarded, at the time, as the fastest skater in the league. He was also a prolific goal scorer. When he put away his hockey stick, John didn't hang up his skates but became a registered hockey referee. He refereed junior and senior games and championship series from the west coast to Ontario for a number of years.

In Melville, John met Isabelle Juckes and they married in 1948. They raised their daughter Joan in Melville, where John was active in the Kinsmen Club and the First United Church choir. A keen sportsman, John also played for the Melville Millionaires baseball team, and spent much of his leisure time curling, fishing, golfing, playing bridge, and gardening. Starting as a young man, he worked for many years for the Canadian National Railway, where he used his unique and now almost-forgotten skill at Morse Code to communicate with other telegraphers. He also worked in retail with Melville Stationery for several years.

In the early 1970s, John relocated to British Columbia, where he worked for the T. Eaton Company in various communities on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland until he retired in 1991. Through his work, John met his second wife, Coral, and they married in 1987. John continued to be social, healthy and physically active through golf, skating, skiing, and walking well into his late 80s.

A social creature, John loved people and a good time, and he made many friends over the course of his long life. He especially loved children. He was the kind of uncle and neighbour who taught a kid how to crack gum and eat a mouthful of "sheemies" (sunflower seeds with shells), who tugged playfully on a little girl's braids, and who saved newspaper articles about National Hockey League stars for a young buddy's scrapbook. He will be fondly remembered by a number of nieces and nephews for whom he was a very special uncle.

John was predeceased by his parents, Rose (Zelisko) and John Kotzma Sr., and by his three siblings, Anne (Jackie), Stella/Sally (Dobson) and Edward. He is survived by his daughter Joan (Selby) and her partner Jamie Ritchie of Vancouver, B.C., his ex-wife Isabelle of Vancouver, B.C., his second wife Coral, and numerous nieces and nephews.