John Tanton To Be Named Chair for Magee’s Centennial

In the next short while, Magee’s principal, Randy George, will be announcing John Tanton of our class as Chair for the school’s centennial celebrations in 2014. John is already hard at work developing information on what other local schools have done for their centennials, and is identifying key people from our year and others to put together a top-notch committee and an outstanding event.

Following is John’s brief biography as provided to the school for publication on the Magee website.

John was born in Prince Edward Island on February 14, 1941 in the town of O’Leary (pop. 8). He was delivered by his father who happened to be the family physician for the area. When he was five the family moved to Montreal while his father took advanced studies in medicine. After this the family, consisting of his father, mother and an older sister, moved to Vancouver. John started school at Prince of Wales, in grade four moved to Quilchena and then in grade seven to Point Grey, and then of course to our famous alma mater, Magee, for grades ten through twelve, graduating in 1959.

Looking back at his days at Magee he enjoyed immensely working with Mr. Davies, a Phys. Ed. teacher and played rugby in grades 10, 11 and 12. His favourite teachers were Mr. Poole who tried to teach John Latin for three years, and the math teacher, Mr. Ginther.

In 1959 John went to the University of British Columbia and earned a degree in Biochemistry and Physiology. While at UBC he joined the wrestling squad and played rugby. After graduating he was hired by Atomic Energy of Canada as a Research Scientist studying the effects of radiation. He then joined one of Johnson & Johnson’s companies and became General Manager for Western Canada. Restless, he then co-founded a company in 1970 with Magee classmate Kyle Mitchell, and it subsequently became the largest executive search firm in Canada.

After 40 years John retired as Chair of the Board in Odgers Berndtson in Vancouver. During this period of time he was also very active in many community organizations including serving as Chair of the Campaign Cabinet for the United Way of the Lower Mainland in 2002. He has also been active with the capital campaigns of UBC, YMCA, Vancouver Aquarium and the Stanley Theatre. In addition, John has been a Board member for Lions Gate Hospital, United Way, Vancouver Board of Trade, Sales & Marketing Executives of Vancouver, and member of the BCIT Development Council. Most recently John was Chair of the 2006 Celebrity Breakfast for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of BC & Yukon.

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