Obituary of John David Stewart MacDermid

John David Stewart MacDermid, born April 28th, 1968, deceased May 21st, 2022. You left us after a long struggle with Wilson’s disease, to give yourself some respite from the ongoing suffering. Left in your wake is your family, your community, and a multitude of great friends. You will be remembered for your passion for lifelong learning and duty-bound civic engagement which allowed you to touch many lives. Your sartorial style and signature everyday look, which was often met with side-glances, will illuminate our memories of you. You sported your scarves with such aplomb that colleagues were tempted to follow suit while contemplating your ideas for invigorating the city. You possessed a hankering for knowledge, an awareness of current events, and a love of the arts. A gregarious nature and curiosity about the world around you put you at ease in any social setting and enabled you to befriend individuals from every walk of life; no topic was off-limits. Nobody could light up a room, energize a discussion, or provoke laughter the way you did. Your stories of adventures enhanced many an evening for those with whom you shared your company. We all meet people who provide us the space for transformation and help to open up our views, thoughts, and lives – you were that person for so many of us. You loved with all your heart. You thought deeply and broadly. You reached out with your conviction and gathered people to action. You shared with intention and expected change in return. You will carry forward in our lives as we continue to tell the story of our real-life love affair – a la ‘Harry met Sally’ and regale each other with the tales of your youthful transgressions and adulthood shenanigans. We are profoundly grateful for all the family and friends who came to sit, share, sing, and reach out to you with love. The magnitude of our lives may be measured by those who show up at times like these and it’s clear that your life was immense. If we never said how proud we were of you, we say it now. If we didn’t tell you enough how much we valued your friendship, we say it a hundred times over. Continue on your journey, my love; you will be sorely missed in this life. In the end, we all become memories and you will be ours forever. We are all bound together through time and space and your friends and family will continue to carry your ready smile in their hearts. Your memory will live on with your mother Pam MacDermid, your brother Graeme MacDermid, your sister Heather MacDermid (Barry Meston), your many nieces, nephews, and Godchildren, and me, your wife Meaghan Seagrave. Goodbye my lover, goodbye my friend, you will forever be in our hearts. We would like to thank the Extra-Mural, Palliative, and Fredericton Hospice teams who helped put in place all you needed for your journey to be made with dignity, grace, and peace while remaining at home in the constant presence of friends and family. A celebration will be planned for later this summer where friends, family, and colleagues can gather to share stories, memories, and a wee dram. In memory of John’s life please consider a donation to CARMA - Cat Rescue Maritimes or your local Hospice. Contemplate getting out and spending some time and money in a local shop or restaurant with friends and do what you can to get engaged and involved in your community.