FILLION, John W. - 1933 - 2019 The family announce his passing October 16, 2019, in Guelph, Ontario.
He was 86.
Beloved husband of Grace Midori Fillion (neé Wakayama), father of Michele M. Fillion, grandfather of Simone, Camille and Lucien (Luc) Fillion-Raff, father-in-law of Joshua E. Raff.
Born in Little Current, Ontario in 1933, to Wilfred and Wilhemina (neé Kennedy) Fillion. His sisters, Patricia, Roberta, Blanche and Margaret, predeceased him.
Award winning sculptor and professor of Fine Arts at the University of Guelph (1968-1997), where he helped establish the sculpture program, Fillion graduated with honours from the Ontario College of Art (1962) and was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art (1976).
His sculptures are held in both private and public collections in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.
His Reclining Torso (Bronze 1969), his best known work, commissioned by Imperial Life as a Centennial Project in 1967, is a public landmark at 95 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto, Canada.
Faithful to his practice of Zen Buddhism, his later works were created for Buddhist temples, including the Zen Center in Rochester, New York. He became a Buddhist lay priest in 1985 under Kwon Ok Sunim.
A voracious reader, a lover of beauty, music, animals, a snooker shark and a lifelong spiritual seeker. He was an original and will be missed.
A private service will be held in his honour in Guelph, Ontario.
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