John Franklin Huguet, 71

John Franklin Huguet was born December 28, 1945 on a very snowy day. As he always told us, his mama barely arrived by horse and carriage at the General Hospital in Neepawa, Manitoba. He was welcomed into the world by his mother (Marjorie Horne), father (Avery Huguet) and his older brother Courtney.

John’s family moved to Vancouver when he was an infant and they quickly set roots in East Vancouver. John was always an adventurous young boy; he had a special way of keeping his mom on her toes at all times. Whether he was climbing trees or crawling home after a freak-fall-onto-a-picket-fence, little John was always getting into mischief. He attended Charles Dickens Elementary where his love for sports began and always reminisced about the teams that he was a part of at school and after school. One of his fondest memories is the first baseball glove that his dad bought him. John attended Gladstone High School and reveled in being the quarterback for the football team.

John started his journey in the workforce young. He got his first job as a paperboy in the fifties. He always said his favorite part of his route was stopping by the neighborhood bakery at 5am and getting the rejected donuts as fuel. When he lost his father at the age of sixteen, John began working at CN Rail as a rail supervisor. Shortly thereafter, he made the hard decision to leave his well-paying job at CN Rail to take a lower level position at Commonwealth Construction Company because he thought there was a future there.

John’s first marriage gave him two daughters, Michelle Ring (née Huguet), born in 1973 and Amber Epstein (née Huguet), born in 1975. John loved his daughters very much and would frequently reminisce about the great weekends they spent together.

John made many great friends at Commonwealth and got to travel to many interesting places through his work. When his work led him to Peru to help build one of many pulp and paper mills, John met the love of his life; Nora Huguet (née Villavicencio), at the Sheraton Hotel in Lima. Nora was a waitress in the hotel Bar and didn’t speak much English and John barely spoke Spanish. John said that he instantly fell in love with Nora even despite their language barrier. He would take her out on dates and they would just hold hands and smile. John and Nora got married in 1980 and moved to Canada to begin their life together. Their first daughter Jovanna Burke (née Huguet) was born in Edmonton in 1980 and three years later came Jessica Young (née Huguet). Soon after the family moved to Vancouver and set down roots on the North Shore. Family was always important to John. In 1987 John welcomed Nora’s youngest sister Gladys and her daughter Cynthia into his home. As a result, John, the guy’s guy would often find himself surrounded by 7 women – his wife, four daughters, sister-in-law and niece. Regardless, John would still have football, hockey or golf on in the background, sporting events always dominated the TV.

It wasn’t only his home life that thrived. John always loved his work and managed to progress through Commonwealth Construction, eventually becoming the President and CEO. John left Commonwealth in 1997 to begin a new adventure in business. John was an unrelenting optimist - he started Andean-American Mining Corporation and found much success even though this was a brand new career path for him. He was always excited and curious about new paths. Along the way John created many small companies that flourished through his love of learning and helping others.

However, John’s true love was always family and Nora was his star. John walked Jovanna down the aisle in 2010 and Jessica in 2011. John was so happy to finally have two sons. He had excellent relationships with both of his sons-in-law, (Andrew & Casey) whom he bonded with over their shared loved of steaks, wine, sports and his daughters.

John’s life changed again in 2011 when his granddaughter Evelyn Burke was born. Shortly thereafter came Pearl Young in 2013, Belle Young in 2014, Felix Burke in 2015 and Hazel Young in 2016. John, known affectionately as Pito and Papa Lala, adored his grandchildren and they adored him.

Throughout his life John was an avid golfer and spent hundreds, if not thousands, of enjoyable days on the golf course. He was an avid sports fan and never missed a Vancouver Canucks or BC Lions game. John also loved food (especially dessert), wine and cooking - he was the resident chef in the household and was happiest when his whole family was around for a meal.

John was a hero to so many people. His passing leaves a huge hole in the hearts of his family and loved ones, but his legacy will live on through them.

John is survived by his loving wife Nora, his four daughters Jovanna (Andrew), Jessica (Casey), Michelle and Amber (Mark), his grandchildren, Evelyn (5) and Felix (19m) Burke; Pearl (3), Belle (2)  and Hazel (6m) Young; Avery (14) and Paige (12) Ring & Devon (8) and Sadie (2) Epstein.

May you eternally Rest In Peace. Snooches.