John McCallum

John McCallum, 72, of Bristol, TN passed away Monday, December 25, 2017 at Select Specialty Hospital, Bristol, TN. John was born in Glasgow, Scotland on December 13, 1945, son of the late James and Mary McCallum. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Claire McCallum; mother-in-law, Laura Brewer and brothers-in-law, Daniel Brewer, Ian Reid and Richard Lapointe.In 1966, at age 20, John and his Dad immigrated to Canada. The rest of the family followed later in October. John's priorities were to find a good paying job, a beautiful wife and to buy a BIG car. He was hired as an apprentice electrician by John Dixon. Every weekend John took the four hour train ride to Toronto where he studied electrician courses. Soon, he qualified as a certified electrician. He started working as a trouble shooter for GM where the wage and benefits made him happy and made us all proud. In the meantime, he had met a woman from Detroit whom he married in 1968. Their son, Robert, was born in 1970. Within four years of immigrating to Canada, John had a career, a wife, a new family, and yes, a BIG American car. The young family moved to Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit. Their daughter, Michelle, was born in 1976 and soon became the apple of John's eye. Later, after the divorce, John accepted GM's offer to work on projects in such places as Germany, Mexico, and many other cities in America and Canada. Along the way he met Christine, or as he lovingly called her, Chrissie. They soon married in a civil ceremony and moved to Tennessee. They celebrated their marriage in 1997, by having a gala event at a renovated old plantation. They both looked wonderful and were wonderful together.It is one of life's sad ironies, that not too many years after this happy point in his life, John was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. We are all saddened that a man who loved work and fun ended his life in such a cruel way. As John would have wanted, Chrissie and his nuclear family wish the four generations of his extended family and all of his old and new friends who dearly loved him all the happiness in life and the time to enjoy it.John is survived by his wife, ChrisAnn McCallum; special companions, "the kids", Roosevelt and Fala; his son, Robert McCallum (Lisa Bialczyk); his daughter, Michelle Sarb (Gerad); five grandchildren, Keegan, Spencer, Bradyn, Joseph and Alessa; sisters, Anne McCallum, Mary McCallum (Don McAskill); father-in-law, Paul Brewer; brother-in-law, Timothy Brewer; sister-in-law, Joanne Abbott; nephews, Jeff Marentette (Melissa Robinson), Tony Marentette (Christine Trembley), Kyle Reid; aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family in Canada, Scotland and England. The family would like to express a special thank you to Jennifer of Select Specialty Hospital, Bristol, TN for all the love and care shown to John during his illness.The family will receive friends from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Friday, December 29, 2017 at Blevins Funeral & Cremation Services, 417 Lee St., Bristol, VA. A Celebration of Life Service will follow at 7:00 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. The burial and interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be sent to the funeral home to help with general expenses. Condolences for the family may be sent and viewed by visiting www.BlevinsCares.com. Mr. McCallum and his family are in the care of Blevins Funeral & Cremation Services. (276) 669-6141.Read Obituary