Jaan Lamend, beloved son of the late Melanie and Jakob Lamend, died suddenly in the Bowmanville Hospital at age 57.
Within the limits imposed by moderately severe Down’s syndrome, Jaan was industrious and dutiful. His adult years were spent working at ARC Industries, a source of great pride and satisfaction to him. Apart from family and relatives, outside of work hours his co-workers were his major source of friendship and social interaction.
When his parents’ health deteriorated, severely limiting their mobility, Jaan took over many household chores, enabling the family to continue living together in its own home. He mowed the lawn and shovelled snow, as the season required. Well known to local shopkeepers, with a list from his mother he did the shopping and ran other similar errands. After the death of his father, Jaan and his mother—essentially immobile by that time—were able to continue at home for another four years, primarily due to Jaan’s dutiful help with attending to the physical chores of daily life. Even so, deteriorating health requiring more care propelled his mother into a nursing home. She arranged a foster home for Jaan with the Tavares family, where he thrived, even after her death, for eleven years.
Eventually arthritic pain limited his own mobility, and Jaan retired from his work at ARC Industries. Loss of this important source of self worth brought on a despondency he was unable to oust. Need for increased care necessitated a change of foster home, and in the difficult last sixteen months of his life, Jaan was cared for by the Tamblyn family, with help from regional social agencies.
One of Jaan’s passions was music. He enjoyed listening to his CDs, and particularly loved the accordion and drums. The accordion was a challenge to master, but he became quite an accomplished drummer, rhythmically beating along whenever music was made. Some months before his death he had become markedly withdrawn, eyes permanently downcast. Only on cousin Peter’s offer to play the accordion did he lift his eyes, a furtive smile, albeit short-lived, fleeting over his face.

On behalf of the family I wish to thank Janet Tavares and Tammy Tamblyn for their conscientious care. I also thank the numerous dedicated employees of the many social assistance agencies for their continued support of Jaan over the span of more than thirty-five years: ODSP, CCAC, COCE, IRP-Rehab.
Jaan “John” Lamend will be remembered by the people whose hearts he touched over his lifetime: a man, who did the best he could—and when necessary, well beyond the limits of his constraints.