Randonneurs Ontario marks with sadness the passing of John Hill Saunders, a former member remembered less for speed than for presence. John was thoughtful company on the road — someone who, once you got him talking, offered quiet insight, dry humour, and genuine curiosity. Those who rode with him in the 1990s and early 2000s recall both long conversations and long stretches of companionable silence, sharing the simple effort of moving forward together. John brought integrity, independence, and kindness to everything he did, whether on a bicycle, on the water, or on the page.
JOHN SAUNDERS Obituary
March 28, 1946 – February 1, 2026
John Saunders, iconoclast and independent thinker, carved his own channel in life, using words, kayaks and bicycles, consistent integrity, consideration and politeness.
John was a wordsmith, a reporter’s reporter, starting at the Toronto Star and later working at the Montreal Gazette, the Detroit Free Press and the Globe and Mail. Whether he was writing a brief, a long investigation or helping other reporters with difficult stories, he was strict about being accurate, using the right word, and never, ever boring the reader. He liked to craft a “nice line of prose” and he always treated sources, colleagues and readers with respect.
John’s idea of a good time was to engage in tough physical activities. His kayak trips to Georgian Bay with his wife, Elinor were legendary. He built a canvas and wood kayak (dubbed the Watersnake) in the early 1960s and they would take themselves of to the islands where their only company would be frogs, snakes, a pile of secondhand paperbacks and occasionally a bear. Later, John upgraded a sea-going kayak with pontoons and a second mast so that he could sail seven knots in rough water on Lake Huron.
When John got serious about cycling, he researched the dynamics of bikes and biking long distances. He joined the Zoo Crew in their weekly rides from the Toronto Zoo to Annina’s in Goodwood and beyond. His epic ride was a solo trip across Australia from Perth to Sydney along the Nullarbor Plain, travelling 4,000 km in 38 days.
John loved lunch with friends in a restaurant with good food, friendly service, and no pretensions. In the mid-1990s, he started a regular gathering at Ciccione’s. The restaurant would be closed for the event and only “friends of John Saunders” admitted. Later the party moved to the Strathcona Hotel and became known as the Reprobates Lunch, the company and the setting providing the perfect complement to John’s taste.
John will be sadly missed by his wife, Elinor Reading; his sisters, Carol Sirman (Bill) and Sally McIlveen (Phil); and sisters-in-law, Melissa Reading (John Castor, predeceased) and Arlene Oakland (Mark Lifter). He was predeceased by his older brother, Graham who died in 1963 and his nephew, Graham Sirman who died in 2019. The loss of the two Grahams was always with him. John was a special figure in the lives of his nieces, Sarah (Nel) McIlveen, Jessica Dalton, Lindsay Sirman, Hilary Sirman Allalemdjian, Allison Bowles Sirman and their families. John was honoured to have Dan Westell, Kimberley Noble and their daughters, Lucy and Annabel, Celia Donnelly, Tim Appleby, Jan Wong, Norman Shulman and a host of reprobates as his friends.
Many thanks to the staff of Princess Margaret Hospital and Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital for their care and compassion.
John’s final wish was for friends to raise a glass of the finest (or maybe just the house white) at the Duke of York pub on Saturday, February 7th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.