Deacon John Daigle

Deacon John Stanley Daigle was born on December 5th, 1938 to (Joseph) David Daigle and Honora (Lucy) Bowes in the town of Newcastle New Brunswick. He moved with his family to the village of Nelson Miramichi (now part of Miramichi City) in 1939 where he grew up. He attended the local elementary school in Nelson and St. Thomas High school in Chatham to grade 11. He graduated from Nelson Rural High School in 1957.

John joined the staff of Frasers Pulp Mill in August 1957 where he remained until August 1959. He then attended St. Thomas University from September 1959 to May 1960 but decided that this was not the path he wanted to follow. John moved to Montreal in the fall of 1960 and joined the staff of Canadair Limited an aircraft manufacturer working in the Production Release Department. In April of 1962 he was laid off due to a reduction of the workforce at Canadair because of low sales. John then returned to the Miramichi where he joined the CDN Army Reserve program training men to help in case of a nuclear disaster which was put on by the Canadian Army. During the summer of 1962 he applied for and was accepted into the Construction Electricity program at the New Brunswick Training Institute in Moncton NB. Upon graduation John accepted a position with New Brunswick Hydro as a trainee in Hydro Electric Plant operation. After completing a three year apprenticeship he received his Journeyman’s certificate and was posted as a lead operator at the Beechwood Generation Station in Beechwood NB.

In January 1967 John decided he wanted to pursue a career in Data Processing (Information Technology) which was in its infancy in Canada at the time. He resigned his position with the Hydro and moved to Toronto, Ontario and enrolled in a Computer Programming Course at a private institute. Following his training he was hired on by the institute as an instructor. He remained there until January 1970. He applied for and was accepted as a Programmer Analyst at Smith Transport Ltd. (a Canadian Pacific Ltd. Company) In Toronto. This began his career in the Transportation and Logistics industry where he would remain for the next 44 years working for various companies and eventually ran his own Logistics Consulting firm for 14 years.

In 1967 John married the love of his life, Wanda Ann DeMerchant from Bath New Brunswick and together they had four children Catherine, Nancy, Timothy and Joseph. In 1977 they moved to Brampton, Ontario where they raised their family.

In 1982 Deacon John applied for and was accepted into the Permanent Diaconate Formation Program at St. Augustine’s Seminary and was ordained as a Permanent Deacon for the Archdiocese of Toronto in 1985. In this part-time ministry, Deacon John went on to serve at St. Anne’s and St. Marguerite D’Youville parishes in Brampton and various ministry positions in Brampton Hospitals, Senior Homes and the Addiction Management Center until his retirement at age 75 in 2013.

John was predeceased by his wife Wanda in 2022 and leaves behind to mourn his passing and celebrate his life his children Catherine Forrester (Graham), Nancy Pacheco (Joe), Timothy (Lyndsey) and Joseph (Maya) and ten grandchildren Andrew, Cameron and Lauren Forrester, Xavier, Emily and Gabriel Pacheco and Cypress, Sienna, Emersyn and Oaklynn Daigle.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation https://www.heartandstroke.ca    If you would like a card placed with the family acknowledging your gift, please contact the funeral home.