John VALLEAU

JOHN VALLEAU With sadness we report that John passed away peacefully at age 88 on Sunday, May 17, 2020, at Toronto Western Hospital. After a long and productive life, John's health declined rapidly over recent months, mainly caused by Alzheimer's. John leaves behind his wife, Jean Smith; his sons, Nicholas (Kathryn) and Simon (Ellen); five grandchildren; and three nieces. He was predeceased by his first wife, Liz; and his long-time life partner, Tanis. John was a scientist, a social activist, an outdoorsman, a gourmet and above all a man of great integrity. John was a distinguished theoretical chemist. He obtained his PhD at Cambridge. While there, he married Liz and they had their first son, Nicholas. He then worked at the National Research Council in Ottawa before joining the Chemistry Department at University of Toronto. His second son, Simon, was born then. John obtained tenure, became a full professor and then Professor Emeritus; he taught and worked at UofT until well after his retirement. John will be a remembered as a highly original scientist who made important and lasting contributions to his field. John had high standards as a teacher and expected the same of his students. John had a consuming passion for left-wing politics and social activism. He was a tireless advocate for peace and justice. He was a founding Director of Science for Peace in 1981 and worked to encourage viable alternatives to nuclear proliferation, space weaponry, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and many other military threats to humanity. John also collaborated with others to address the climate change disaster, ecological crises, illegal detention of immigrants, the corporatization of universities, international agreements and domestic policies benefiting the rich and powerful over ordinary citizens and other issues touching on social justice and economic fairness. John was an avid outdoorsman and naturalist. He loved nothing better than to be with friends on a canoe trip in the wilderness, hiking the Bruce Trail, bird-watching or tending his large farmhouse garden. He was an avid gourmet, producing delightful exotic dinners of all sorts - mostly in the French or Italian style, using only homemade mayonnaise, of course! The odd experiment failed - like that whole goat one Boxing Day… John was a gentle and generous man who inspired many. Despite the seriousness of his passions, John always found humour in the absurd and had a dramatic booming laugh, remembered by everybody who knew him; though his young children often cringed at its loudness in public! He was a stalwart friend with strong opinions and fond of an argument. We will arrange a remembrance celebration in coming months when we can gather again. If you desire, please make memorial donations to Science for Peace (https://scienceforpeace.ca/), or alternatively Ecojustice (https://www.ecojustice.ca/) or CCPA (https://www.policyalternatives.ca/).