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John Earl Nevacshonoff

May 12, 2010

78 years old


We wish all who knew John Nevacshonoff to celebrate his life. John Nevacshonoff left this realm of existence as did his older brother, Bill three years before him. John was the second oldest amongst four brothers. John's younger brother, Eli and wife, Maria, live in Quesnel. John's youngest brother, Walter resides in Gilpin. John has nieces, Annette Davidson and family, and Nadine Nevocshonoff and family living in Grand Forks. John's nephew Josh Nevacshonoff recently moved his family to Vagreville, Alberta. John's nephew Jason Nevacshonoff and family live in Quesnel, as well as niece, Misty and her family. John's niece, April lives in Grand Prairie. John also has many grand-nieces and grand-nephews that he leaves behind. John was well loved by the community and leaves behind many close friends and acquaintances as well as family to mourn his loss.John was born to John and Lucy Nevocshonoff in Long Beach in the Kootenays and grew up mostly in Appledale in the Winlaw area. John's outlook on life stemmed from his upbringing in the appreciation of ideals his ancestry etched out in strength of spirit in following Christ's teachings and the belief that is is not necessary to own land or pay anyone money to be able to exist because God gave people this Earth to enjoy, not to destroy.When John was a young boy, his mother and father joined the Freedomites in their trek to Agassiz in the protest march against militarism, subjugation and land ownership. Following the protest march, John's mom and dad spent three years imprisoned on Piers Island for their beliefs whereas John and his brothers were put in foster homes for three years.To understand the reasoning for John to have followed the path chosen, consideration can be given to the intensity of conviction and depth as portrayed by his father John who lied about his own age when he was fifteen and joined the army to fight the Germans for three years in the First World War. His father said that at war on Christmas, they partied with the Germans and amongst themselves decided it was a senseless war and that they would no longer shoot each other. When the general tried to get them killing on either side, they shot the general instead. He also told him that when the Americans came in late into the war and began killing 40,000 allied Russian soldiers who were trying to march back to Russia because of a civil war back home, the Russian-Canadian soldiers put down their weapons and refused to kill their Russian allies. Then they, John's dad amongst them, were marched for a week without food and water. Many died and the others were put into a prisoner of war camp and finally given a dishonorable discharge.John's dad told him that he himself had given thee years of his life to the devil by participating in the First World War, and that he had given three years of his life to God for the protest of infringement of people's rights to live freely on untaxed land. He told John to live life following Christ's teachings and told all his sons never to go to war. Having such a background, John chose to side with his dad's reasoning and did not own land.After growing up in Appledale, John's family moved to Oliver and worked in the orchards. John spent many years of his life as an orchardist. For awhile John lived in a camper on Pastel Road in the Kelowna area until the Bennett government told him he had to leave. Max Kalesnikoff invited John to be a free man in Gilpin since Gilpin was living the ideal that John's dad had fought for, and John did not buy into the idea of owning property. John brought his brother Walter and close fiends Ricki and Beetle to Gilpin where he helped raise Heather, Shawna, Tiffany, Eddie and Billy.John was always generous and caring to all the children of Gilpin and many called him Grandpa. In Grand Forks you could often find John at Jogas or giving someone a ride somewhere. John was very caring and giving in spirit. We will miss his sparkle in his eyes, his smile and his sense of humour and character. Many will miss him dearly.John's spirit left his body on May 12, 2010, and he was buried in Gilpin at 5 p.m., on Friday, May 14, 2010. John requested a traditional Doukhobor funeral.



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