STRAITON, JOHN SEAL John Seal Straiton passed away at home, at the age of 96, on March 16, 2019 … after struggling with declining health over the previous three months.
He is survived by his daughter Susan (Brian Flack) and his son Kenneth, as well as by his nieces Jeannie, Jennifer, Judy, Linda and Heather and his nephews Paul, David, Richard and Ronald. John was predeceased by his wife Helen, his sister Dorothy Row (Doug), his nephew John and his brother Bill (Eileen). He will also be missed by Pelmo and Tashi Tuedel, his caregivers of eight years and Tsering Yangchen and Wolsal Aday for the last 3 months.
John liked to bill himself as “Just a boy from Kapuskasing,” the northern hayseed who came to the big city. This country boy ended up making quite a name for himself in the arts and in the advertising world. His unique blend of folksy humour and incisive message made him a much sought-after public speaker and Canadian advertising oracle of his time. John was born and raised in a log house in Kapuskasing, a pulp and paper town in northern Ontario, where his Scottish-immigrant father Harry was the town landscaper; his mother Olive, from Liverpool, ran a flower shop. Bedridden with rheumatic fever as a teen, his bookish life made him a top student in high school. After graduating from Queens University in Arts in 1944, John was hired by Toronto-based advertising agency Spitzer Mills and Bates for his versatility with words and artistic abilities. In 1947, he married Helen Kemp in Toronto. They moved to Oakville in 1951 with their then two-year-old son Kenneth and were joined, in 1952, by a daughter, Susan. They lived in Oakville for the rest of their lives.
John next worked at Tandy Advertising, then Young & Rubicam as a copywriter. He rose to the position of Creative Director and Vice-President but, in 1961, he moved to Ogilvy & Mather, as Creative Director. He became President of O & M in 1966 and Chairman and CEO in 1973. In 1974, he stepped away from advertising for two years to take up a post in Ottawa with the Dept. of Energy, Mines, and Resources. His task was to help implement the energy policies of Pierre Trudeau’s government. When that appointment ended in 1976, he returned to Toronto to establish a new advertising agency … Straiton, Pearson, and Martin. His book, Women in Advertising, was published in 1984 by McClelland and Stewart. Later, he published a book of short stories, Flight And Other Tales, an arm-length reminiscence of his time as a boy in Northern Ontario. John left SPM in 1988, but going to work was a hard habit to break. Unable to leave the advertising world, John partnered with Holger Enge for a while, then rented a small office in Oakville and finally worked from an office at home.
Never one to be idle, he created several fundraising campaigns for the Oakville Symphony Orchestra, taught a course at Queen’s, while helping anyone who asked. Throughout his life, John was a creator in many mediums. He painted; he sculpted; he photographed. And, to great acclaim, he made animated films, winning world-wide recognition, including an Etrog in Canada. He religiously devoted two weekends a year to “sketching trips” in the woods with his creative cronies. He spent a lot of time reclined in his chair with a view of the horizon over Lake Ontario. Perhaps it reminded him of the fields beyond his home in Kapuskasing, that sloped away to the broad river that passed the family’s homestead.
A celebration of John Seal Straiton’s life will be held at his home, 21 Allan Street in Oakville, on April 7, 2019, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
You will be able to see photos and leave a message at www.koprivataylor.com