Obituary of John Currie Duplacey

My husband, John Currie Duplacey, left this world on Friday, January 5, 2024 from the Dr Everett Chalmers Hospital following a very short illness.  He was the first born child to Leslie and Dorothy (Currie) Duplacey.  He was the best husband ever (as in patient) to Susan (Wood Guitar) Duplacey; loving father to one son Derron and daughters, Patricia and Tina Duplacey.  He was also stepfather to Jamie Guitar (Krista Murphy) and Shane Guitar (Juanita Bourque).  He was proud to tell anyone who would listen that he had 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.

John was predeceased by his parents, Leslie and Dorothy, his first wife, Muriel (Bell), his daughter, Kathleen M (Kathey) Mercer, his brother, James Duplacey, and sister, Jeanne Melanson (Paul dec).

Obituary writing was on John’s to-do list and recently I asked about it.  (“Oh I have a couple paragraphs drawn up in my head”).  He was advised if they didn’t make it to paper, I would be writing his obituary and saying all the things I wanted to say.  Apparently that did not scare him enough for him to take action, so here I go..

John was a great husband and father and a good friend to so many.  He was kind, generous and thought himself extremely witty (I called it silly).  But most of all he was a sports nut.  No other word for it.  His Monday afternoons of cards at the Minto Legion and his Wednesday evenings were sacred in our household.  In our 26 years of marriage, I was always careful to never, under any circumstances, make any commitments for him at these times.  

Now to the things that John would have loved to have had said for him.  He was always a storyteller, especially about his Chatham days, his school sports events or our travels to Vancouver Island.  He was a sports fanatic; a voracious reader of the spy novel genre, and card player extraordinaire (or so he told me). If there was a score in the game he was a fan.  So this man was never bored.

John is being cremated and wanted no funeral or visitation but he asked that I have a bit of a service at his graveside in the spring at the Sunny Bank Cemetery.  I am hoping to have someone there to sing Danny Boy for it which would have thrilled him.  Unfortunately I may not be able to have Susan Boyle or Nana Mouskouri there to do it personally but he would understand they will be busy.  As John probably would have guessed I don’t always follow his directions so I am planning a gathering to celebrate this kind, gentle man this coming Saturday, January 13th at the Delta Hotel in Fredericton.

Join us in honouring this sweet man whom we all loved so much. Gathering will be in the Bobak Room (former DJ Purdy’s) in the Delta from 2PM to 4PM.

The room is easy to find - enter the hotel main door and walk straight back and it will be on your right. You will likely be able to follow the sounds of laughter and storytelling all mixed to the strains of Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Our aim is to fill the room with things and people John loved so the two hours should fly by.

As he was a sports fanatic don’t hesitate to wear your favourite team colours whether it be a cap, sweater, jacket, whatever. Hope to see you there.