(Oct. 25, 1941 – Feb. 21, 2024)
On December 7, 2023, at the special SJWT-100th event in partnership with the West Toronto Junction Historical Society, Gib Goodfellow shared his memories about St. John’s. He was one of several parishioners, present and past, who, following my presentation about St. John’s history that evening, spoke about what St. John’s has meant to them personally. Gib began by saying that he was a St. John’s warden in 1971. His recollections were recorded and can be watched via,
The video recording of my presentation, along with the other testimonials about St. John's, is available via,
Sadly, Gib Goodfellow passed away on February 21st. His obituary can be found at,
Gib’s passing has been felt especially hard among the membership of the West Toronto Junction Historical Society. He was a long-time member, served as President for a decade, from 2001 to 2011, and remained an active member and volunteer thereafter.
But before the WTJHS existed, Gib was an active member of St. John’s. He spent much of his youth at the church, as he highlighted on Dec. 7th, and then in 1971-72, served as Rector’s Warden at the unusually young age of 30. Initially, he split his time between St. John’s and St. Jude’s Anglican, Roncesvalles, where his father was Sunday School Superintendent. St. Jude’s parish began in 1882, just after St. John’s started, but St. Jude’s ultimately closed in 1977.
Read more about St. Jude’s story at,
Further to what Gib recalled on Dec. 7th, St. John’s “Year Book 1971” Vestry Report, published early in 1972, includes his Warden’s Report, which, along with the Rector’s Report from Rev. Maurice Poole, reflects an uncertain time for the church, which had just celebrated the 90th anniversary of the parish’s birth. The cover of Year Book 1971 also included photos taken at the May 5, 1923, cornerstone day for the current church.
You can read St. John's Year Book 1971 Vestry Report via,
It’s hard not to notice the challenging parallels between what St. John’s faced in 1971-72 and what it is experiencing today.
Gib’s presence at the Dec. 7th event was a timely, and, looking back at it now, poignant, linking of his lifelong association with St. John’s, the WTJHS, and his passion for the Junction.