Weldon John THOBURN

Weldon John Thoburn P.Eng., Ph.D. 16 May 1938 -18 Nov 2014

Beloved husband of Mary Elizabeth (Bib) Jacob. Son of Weldon John Llewellyn McQueen Thoburn and Reine Isobel Laxton. Predeceased by his cherished first wife Ann Clark and survived by their sons Patrick Ferguson (Britt Oldenburg) and Mark Gillies (Mollie Wilkins). He was the proud and involved Grandpa of Max, Anna and Elliot Thoburn, and of Louisa Evelyn Thoburn.

He will be remembered by his sister-in-law Jane Clark (Bill) Tracz, brother-in-law Stewart Clark, sister-in-law Janet Hood (James Forrester) and brother-in-law Robert Jacob (Lynn Woodruff). He is also in the thoughts of stepsons Will Redrupp (Diane Armes) and son Ben, and Jonathan Redrupp (Carrie DeVries) and daughters Lauren and Samantha.

Weldon was born and raised in Toronto. As a youth, he attended Allenby Public School and played sandlot baseball where he earned the sobriquet Fireball for his pitching skills. Weldon then went to the University of Toronto Schools (UTS) and in his final year was elected School Captain, football captain and selected league all-star. At The University of Toronto (U of T) he played football for the Varsity Blues, where he was also named league all-star. He turned down an offer from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to accept a scholarship to do research towards a graduate degree at the U of T.

Weldon graduated with a Ph.D., in metallurgy, in 1964 and then studied at the Royal School of Mines in London, England on a National Research Council Fellowship. He started his professional career with Falconbridge and INCO in Sudbury, where he specialized in improving the economics and supply of new and existing metal products for export. In 1980 he realized his ambition to become a consultant, subsequently working for Lavalin (Simon Carves), Hatch Associates Limited and his own firm, Almonte Consulting Limited. At the time of his retirement, Weldon had worked for more than 40 years in the international mining industry, advising companies in more than 26 countries. He was active in The Metallurgical Society (TMS), serving as a technical section chairman and Trustee. He was elected Fellow of TMS in 1998.

He will be remembered as an accomplished engineer, and as a devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend and as a man that could be counted on.

A memorial gathering will be held on November 29, 2014, at 11 a.m., at the Mount Pleasant Visitation Centre, Mount Pleasant Cemetery, 375 Mount Pleasant Road.

Flowers are gratefully declined. A donation may be made to a charity of choice or to the Sunnybrook Hospital (donate.sunnybrook.ca), where he received such outstanding care from Dr. Kevin Imrie and others.