Obituary of John Frederick Vetter

John Vetter, 96, died peacefully in hospital in Kitchener, Ontario on September 11, 2025.

The eldest of 6 siblings, John was born on a farmstead near Grenfell, Saskatchewan, in 1928. He enjoyed an idyllic prairie childhood exploring the nearby fields, forests, and sloughs, and this is where his lifelong love of nature and the outdoors took root.

The family was forced by dustbowl hardships to return to his parents’ ancestral Germany in the 1930s, where they endured a different set of challenges in a country soon to be shattered by conflict. John orchestrated the family’s return to Canada after the war, embracing his role as family patriarch.

The family settled in Kitchener, Ontario, where John worked as an accountant and high school teacher. In 1954 he married Wanda Schneider and they soon brought into the world Julie (Julie Walker of London, Ontario) and Tim (of Sturgis, South Dakota). John was active with the German-Canadian community of the Bethel Lutheran Church and could often be found skiing at Kitchener’s Chicopee resort well into his seventies. During the long summer breaks he would guide canoe trips or take the family on car camping expeditions anywhere in Ontario where wild places could be found.

After Wanda’s death in 2007, John went on to marry Bernice Dostall of Kitchener. Bernice predeceased him in July 2025.

John is survived by siblings Bill and Alfred Vetter of Toronto, Lore Tilley of Kitchener, and Erika Steinberg of BC; Grandchildren Chris Lackner of Ottawa, Jessica Walker of Melbourne Australia, and Madison Walker of London Ontario; Great grandchildren Logan, Cora, Sebby, and Wyatt.

Since 2022 John has lived at the Chartwell Clair Hills Retirement Home in Waterloo, where he was beloved by the community for his graciousness and charm. He enjoyed sitting on his balcony observing the wildlife in the nearby greenway, sweeping his hand dramatically and proclaiming “This is my kingdom!” He would never miss a Jenga game and was a notorious shark with those wooden blocks. The family wishes to thank all the staff at Clair Hills — too numerous to mention by name — for making John’s last years so active, healthy and socially rich. A shoutout also to Jessica, Var, Sim, and Jenna of Tamcare Home Health for being like family for a couple hours every week.

There will be a public visitation for John at Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St. S, Waterloo, on Monday, September 15, 2025 from 2-4pm and 7-9pm, to be followed by a private interment at Memory Gardens in Breslau, Ontario.

In lieu of flowers, condolences for the family and donations in John’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Society may be arranged through the funeral home at 519-745-8445 or at www.erbgood.com.