Ambassador and Naval officer - John Ryerson Maybee

John Ryerson Maybee

Section 103, Grave 3116B “A”

Born in Moose Jaw, SK, Maybee was educated in Alberta, British Columbia and at the University of Toronto.

He went on to receive his PhD in Letters from Princeton University in 1942, after which Maybee joined the Royal Canadian Navy where he served on the North Atlantic as a ship’s navigation officer.

The Battle of the Atlantic, from 1939 to 1945, was the longest continuous battle of the Second World War. Canada played a key role in the Allied struggle for control of the North Atlantic, as German submarines worked furiously to cripple the convoys shipping crucial supplies to Europe. Victory was costly: more than 70,000 Allied seamen, merchant mariners and airmen lost their lives, including approximately 4,400 from Canada and Newfoundland.

After the war he joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and served as the Canadian ambassador to several countries including China, Australia and the USA. He went on to serve as Ambassador to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Nepal and later as the High Commissioner to India.

Upon his retirement in 1978, Maybee studied journalism and became the editor of Crosstalk, a publication produced by the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa. He also served as his church’s chorister, warden and Sunday school teacher.

Maybee died on May 20, 2009, and was buried in the National Military Cemetery at Beechwood, Section 103.