John LIVED for 98 plus years. All of those years, except for the last 4 days, were spent at home, as he wished. He passed away at North York General Hospital where he received excellent care from all doctors and nurses.

John is predeceased by his wife of 66 years, Catherine, his son, Ted, and his four sisters, Faye (Horner), Vi (Phillips), Sadie (Louis) and Helen (Christoff). He is survived by 3 children, John (Anne), Christine (Curtis), Dianne (Donnie) and 5 grandchildren, Yuri, Morgan, Tasha, Leah and Madison.

Over the course of 11 years, John and his wife were blessed to have had another important figure in their lives, Cathy, their extraordinary caregiver. The Mitroff family will be forever grateful.

As a young boy, he would shine shoes at the corner of Queen and Spadina. Later, he would develop his passion for baseball while working as a groundskeeper at the old Maple Leaf Baseball Stadium on Fleet Street. He eventually found his true passion to be ‘numbers’. He became an accountant and worked his way up to Partner at one of Canada’s top Chrysler dealerships, Paul Willison for Chrysler. It’s from here where he retired.

John’s work was only part of his life. He relished his time with family and would often be the source of the best one-liners! He and his wife loved traveling with family and friends. In addition, he enjoyed his weekly poker games, his trips to the casino, the horseraces and billiards. He also loved walking, skating and wished he was a better swimmer.

Most important, however, was John’s pride in his Macedonian heritage. He was proud of his culture. He dedicated years to St. George’s Church, as accountant and as a Board Member. The friendships developed through the community at Church enriched his life beyond measure.

John passed while listening to ‘At Last’ by Etta James. We miss him already.

Visitation: Thursday, February 2nd , from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m
Funeral Service: Friday, February 3rd at 10 a.m, guests may arrive at 9:30 a.m.
Both will be held at Mount Pleasant Funeral Centre, 375 Mount Pleasant Road
For further information: go to etouch.ca

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to North York General Hospital, Alzheimer’s Society of Canada or St. George’s Macedono-Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church.