John Weir Foote - Later Life

Later Life

Later achieving the rank of Major, he remained with the Canadian Corps of Chaplains at Camp Borden until being demobilized in 1948. He won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1948 provincial election and served as the Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Durham. He was first appointed to serve as Deputy Commissioner for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, then into the cabinet after the 1951 election as Ontario Minister of Reform Institutions, but stepped down in 1957, following a number of heart attacks. He retired from the provincial legislature in 1959.

Foote returned to the RHLI in 1964, serving as Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel until 1973.

He made his home with his wife, the former Edith Sheridan (1898–1986), in Cobourg, Ontario, until his death on May 2, 1988. He is buried in Union Cemetery, Cobourg.

The Royal Canadian Legion branch in Grafton, Ontario was renamed the James Foote V.C. C.D. Branch 580 in 1982.

The James Street Armoury in Hamilton, Ontario, where the RHLI is now based, along with 11th Field Hamilton-Wentworth Battery, was renamed the John W. Foote VC Armoury in his memory. Prior to his death, John Foote donated his medals to the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry where they are held at the RHLI Heritage Museum at the John W Foote VC Armoury. The Armoury is a classified Federal Heritage building 1986 on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings.