John Goldwin Fleming

John died at home on Christmas Eve, surrounded by loved ones. He was predeceased by his sisters Margaret and Joanne and his brother Ross. He is survived by his sister Barbara Fleming (Toronto), his children Karen & Jan (Vancouver), John (Toronto) and Suzanne (New York), &  his grandchildren, Julia, Sebastian, Samuel (Toronto) & Curtis (Vancouver) and his close friends of many years.

John lived life fully, with optimism, appreciation, humour and hard work. He loved being active in the outdoors, especially boating, hiking and skiing. He was renowned for his love of people and dogs, of good conversation and his deep laughter.

John was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He graduated high school from Upper Canada College where he formed lifelong friendships. He studied Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto, and joined the Canadian Navy reserves as a young adult and trained on Vancouver Island.  John graduated with an MBA from Harvard in 1956. He married Rhonna Curtis in Toronto in 1959, and they moved to Calgary and then to Vancouver, where they raised their four children. They divorced in 1987 and he moved permanently to Albuquerque. 

Always entrepreneurial and hardworking, John started a number of businesses, including pozzolan in the prairies and barite mining in Alaska. From 1973 to 2001 he teamed up with Ed Stewart and Jim Harrison to run Ponderosa Products in Albuquerque.

In Albuquerque he was involved in a number of organizations, including the KIVA club, the Black Tie Club, the Albuquerque Gay Outdoors Club, Common Bond NM Foundation and PFLAG. He “retired” in 2002 but discovered that retirement didn’t suit him, so in 2007 he became a volunteer with SCORE and served as a business mentor and board member until August 2019. He loved helping people build and grow their businesses.

John was bright, kind, generous, fun-loving and social, and was known for his resourcefulness and his ability to think outside the box - so often able to find a solution or a good workaround. He loved meeting people and talking with them about what was important to them. He was thoughtful and always remembered to follow up to find out how things were going. John had some close friendships that lasted for decades, and was known for his regular one-on-one meetings with friends for big conversations. He was appreciative and full of gratitude, and he squeezed every last drop out of life. 

He was loved dearly and will be greatly missed.

John wanted a celebration party to be held rather than formal service. There will be a gathering on Saturday February 15th ’20. Please contact janfleming@shaw.ca for information.

Daniels Family Funeral Services
7601 Wyoming Blvd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
505-821-0010