March On! ...the history of the
Toronto Optimists Drum & Bugle Corps
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
John Van Der Flaes
Corps:Toronto Optimists
– October 29, 2021
John Van der Flaes passed away at the age of 76, on October 29, 2021. He had a heart attack while living with his wife in a retirement community in a resort area south of Manila. He was a proud and devoted member of the guard in 1965, but home and school demands meant that he could not stay in the corps after that.
He maintained his interest in the Optimists throughout his life. While working to install and maintain reservations systems for many major national airlines, he lived in places as varied as Vancouver, California, Texas, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Oman, and Hong Kong.
John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We Remember!