John Gerard Hood

John Gerard Hood September 24,1927-February 15, 2026

Survived by his son Brian (wife Patty (Shore) and daughter Pam Hood Szivek (nee Hood), daughter-in-law Carrie Hood, 4 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren, many Hood, Hilmer and Geyer relatives, as well as close friend Isabelle Nobell.

Predeceased by wives Dolores (nee Hilmer) and Heidi Young (nee Geyer), sons Michael and Stephen, as well as his sister Liz, and brothers Sandy and David.

Known as Johnny Hood to many, Uncle Johnny to nieces and nephews, Mr. Johnny Hood to his students.

Born September 24, 1927 in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), raised in Ayr, Scotland by parents Bessie (McGuigan) and Alexander Hood. His father passed away age 18 and Bessie raised her family on her own in Ayr, near her father's famous racing stables.

Music the centre of John's life. By age fourteen he was leading his first band. At that age he played five nights a week: one night playing violin with the local symphony orchestra, one with a special Scottish orchestra which played for the wounded in military hospitals during World War II, two nights at the YWCA where they had dances for the servicemen and one night with his local youth club.

From 1946-1948 John served in the R.A.F., stationed for much of time in Egypt as a lathe operator making bomb parts. On discharge he was commended for his high intelligence, quality of work as well as organizing a dance band that was “a paying proposition.”

After discharge John taught the equivalent of Grade 7 in Scotland for a year and then worked in Great Britain, throughout Europe and then Bermuda as a professional musician and band leader, rising to the position of section leader of a large orchestra in the Elbow Beach Surf Club hotel in Paget, Bermuda. Owning one of the few cars on the island, a cross between a jeep and a dune buggy, John was photographed at the wheel of the open air vehicle with at least a half dozen bathing beauties loaded in the back. It looked like a shot from the movies.

In Bermuda he met Dolores Hilmer, who was working as concierge, bookkeeper and model for publicity shots at the same hotel chain. In early 1957, they moved to Toronto, Ontario Canada and were married. John needed 3 years of residency before he could gain membership in the Toronto Musicians Unions so he worked temporary jobs in sweat shops in the garment district as well as a private music teacher. When Dolores became pregnant, he realised he could not wait the required three years in Toronto and joined the Hamilton Musicians union instead.

By 1960, John had saved enough money from his extra income as a musician to purchase a home in Oakville. He began teaching in Oakville in 1958 as Head of the Music Department for the Oakville Board, creating music programs at Oakville-Trafalgar High School and T.A. Blakelock Secondary School. He taught music and mathematics. His school bands won many Kiwanis Music Festival Awards and took annual bands trips, including trips to Europe. He led the Oakville Citizen's Band from 1961-63.

In 1965-66, John taught at C.W. Jeffreys Secondary School in North York, then spent almost 10 years (up to 1975) at Streetsville Secondary School. By special permission, he introduced the Berklee School of Music (Boston), an extremely successful project.

Throughout these years, most Friday and Saturday nights he had his band, the Johnny Hood Trio/Quartet booked into gigs. John acted as musician, booking agent and manager.

With two full time jobs, John still found time to start investing in real estate.

In 1969, the family moved to Mississauga. While still teaching, in 1972 John decided to open a music store in a small plaza. In 1975 John left teaching and moved the store to Dixie Plaza (now the Dixie Outlet Mall) under the name Mississauga Organ Company (M.O.C. Ltd). At this time he decided to limit inventory to pianos and organs.

Every summer at the CNE John ran a sales booth in the Automotive Building. There he routinely outperformed the competition. In 1975, Wurlitzer asked him to take over the running of their booth in the Better Living Centre of the CNE. Under John's leadership the booth broke all sales records in each of the three years he ran the booth. He was a top sales producer in Canada for Japanese Kawai pianos and organs, top Ontario seller for Italian Farfisa organs, and consistently one of the top three producers for Wurlitzer pianos and organs in Canada.

In 1980 John and Dolores moved to Fort Myers, Florida, so that John could act as general contractor for several building lots that he had acquired. This lead to dealing with several bankers and a new career as a mortgage broker. Again John outperformed the competition. He continued as a musician, sometimes playing cameos with famous bands in the area.

In 1985, Dolores was diagnosed with cancer, and in 1986 John sold everything and brought her back to Canada for medical care. After Dolores' death in 1987, he continued investing in real estate in Mississauga and began re-establishing his music connections.

In 1988 he married Heidi (Geyer) and in 1994 they began building their dream home on a wooden lot near the Credit River in Streetsville. He worked with the Clarkson Music Theatre in a few productions as a music director, conductor and/or musician. He started the Johnny Hood Orchestra, a nine to eighteen piece Big Band that performed gigs at convention centres, Toronto hotels, Niagara-on-the Lake and other high-end venues. Bookings included the North York Hospital Foundation Fundraiser, the Starlight Children's Foundation “Gala Ball,” and the Credit Valley Hospital “Vienna Ball.” The nine piece band played at the Mel Lastman Square summer series, weddings, birthdays, restaurants and private parties.

Eventually, he had the band at a level that he felt the members could make a go it as a full-time career. Not enough of the players where prepared to take that kind of risk so John's focus turned to a band for retired musicians, though most were not retired. They did occasional charitable gigs but no professional playing, music for the sake of the music. John delighted in scoring music for all instruments, especially those rare to have in a band. His orchestrations attracted talented musicians from the GTA and beyond. He continued to delight in teaching music, leading the Maltese Club Junior Band for a few years.

John and Heidi loved to travel and John enjoyed planning detailed European trips that maximized sightseeing with frugal train travel and great hotels.

In 2017, Heidi died and John faced living alone. His youngest son, Stephen, moved in with him and John used the COVID years to find good homes for his musical instruments and Heidi's collection of art books and art work. John also continued to travel, meeting Isabelle Nobel as a travel partner and becoming a devoted friend.

By 2022 John began to show signs of dementia and early in 2023, now living alone, he began receiving the supports for daily living that allowed him to stay in his beloved home. A bit the spark left his life when he could no longer drive that year but he devoted lots of time to borrowing books from the library, working in his garden, and helping his friend Isabelle move back to Canada from Sweden. He learned how to order groceries online and how to use WhatsApp just to have his weekly calls from “Isa.”

In 2025, John was hospitalized for worsening health dementia and he was very disappointed when he no longer could function within his home and needed to move into long term care. He spent his last six months in Oakville in long term care and endeared himself to all the staff and to some of the residents, particularly those who were musicians. He was known for his lovely smile and gentle laugh and his love of physical activities, even limited as he was to a wheel chair!

John always spoke of having lived a long and fulfilling life with no regrets. In February 2026, he spent a brief time in hospital with shingles and other health issues. Once free of shingles he returned to his long term care home and died a couple of days later after visits from Brian, Patty and Isabelle.

Recording: The Johnny Hood Orchestra, Hamilton Convention Centre. 

Arrangements by Johnny Hood. “Somebody Love Me.” 

Vocalist: Aelita Fitingof www.aelitamusic.com