Sir John Sparrow David Thompson was a quiet and modest man, rarely drawing attention to himself—which made his death, at age 49, totally out of character. He was dining with Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle shortly before Christmas when he suddenly fell ill. He died 15 minutes later. His body was carried home over a stormy Atlantic Ocean in an English warship painted black for the occasion.

John was a brilliant man who did much for Canada. No one will ever know how much more he could have accomplished had he not died so early in his political career.