Colonel John "Tex" Mitchell, RCAF (Ret'd)
1930-2026
Following an extraordinary life of adventure, service and athletic achievement, Col. John (Tex) Mitchell passed away peacefully at his home on the lake on June 24th in the care of his loving partner, Kim Crumpton.
Tex was born in Saskatoon in 1930. Growing up through the Great Depression and WWII in the Canadian Prairies and Northern Ontario, Tex was an only child of Eleanor and Carl. He was a talented hockey player and became a skilled outdoorsman at an early age.
He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at 18, earned his navigator wings and quickly saw active duty in the Korean War where he survived his first plane crash. He then served with the 408 Squadron which was assigned the task of surveying the vast Arctic regions of Canada to create the first complete maps of the country. During one exercise in 1952, he was injured in the crash of his Lancaster in Goose Bay, Newfoundland resulting in the death of the crew's flight engineer. Airlifted back to RCAF Rockcliffe in Ottawa for treatment, Tex was happy to meet his nurse, Ilene, who would become his first wife and the mother of his children. Tex and Ilene had five daughters and moved frequently between bases in Canada and Europe.
In addition to serving in multiple roles on Canadian bases as his career evolved, sometimes as Commanding Officer, Tex ran air operations in the former Saigon during the ICCS-supervised ceasefire and troop withdrawal in Vietnam following the Paris Peace Agreement. He led Canada's UN peacekeeping force in the Middle East, and later served as Canada's Military Attache to the former Yugoslavia and Hungary during the Cold War.
Throughout his life, Tex was a passionate and dedicated athlete and coach. Nordic and alpine skiing and cycling figured prominently but his first passion was competitive canoeing and kayaking. He won the Canadian Junior Championship in K1 in 1964 and the North American championship in K4. Tex was one of the organizers and participants in the Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant in 1967. Departing from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta in May of that year, ten teams of men from eight provinces and two territories paddled and portaged more than 5,000 km in 104 days reaching Montreal's Expo 67 in September. Tex later turned his focus to coaching and became a mentor to some of Canada's most accomplished paddlers. He was honoured to be inducted into the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame for his roles in building the North Bay Nordic Ski Club and the North Bay Canoe Club.
Tex first came to know North Bay when he was posted as fighter operations and plans officer at Headquarters 22nd, NORAD Region. He later returned to the base as Commanding Officer and the area became his chosen home for more than half his life. His home on the lake became his permanent base in retirement for paddling, fishing, mountain biking, skiing, snowshoeing and more. Kim joined him there and they treasured their time together for more than three decades.
Tex is remembered with love by his partner Kim, and by his daughters Jenny (Don), Janice (Charles) and Kerry, his grandsons Jared, Jamie, Colin, Ian and Ethan and their partners, his granddaughter Clare, and eight great-grandchildren. He is remembered fondly by his second wife, Cathy Hanley. Tex was pre-deceased by his infant daughter Marcie in 1955, his grandson John in 1995, his former wife Ilene in 2013 and his daughter Melanie in 2023.
Tex packed a lot into his 95 plus years and he was vibrant and healthy until his last few months. He was a commanding presence who loved a good laugh, a great steak dinner and a fine red wine. He was grateful for his loyal canine companions over the years and was happy to have his last dog, Jess, by his side in his final days. Tex did not want a funeral but he inspired a love of athletics and the outdoors, and we will think of him when we are on the water or hiking through a forest. His was a full life well lived.
