Dr. Jonathan Standley, a physician, world-class sailor, musical talent, and dear friend to many, passed away peacefully in Kingston at the age of 90. Born to Brian Latham Standley and Dorothy Bridget (née Cumber) in Rawalpindi, then part of British India, Jonathan spent most of his childhood in India. After the Partition in 1947, at 13 years, Jonathan returned to England to complete secondary schooling, attended the University of Cambridge, St John’s College where he received his medical degree and trained at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
Jonathan Standley immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1959 where he worked in the men’s shoe department of Eaton’s College Street while awaiting the processing of his British medical papers for a Canadian licence. Soon after his certification by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, Dr. Standley opened a doctor’s office in the Town of Weston [now part of west Toronto] and affiliated with Humber Memorial Hospital on Church Street where he was a Senior Staff Physician and mentored many healthcare staff. After 3 decades devoting himself to the care of hundreds of people in an expanding community, in 1990 Dr. Standley opted for change to chase his lifelong sense of adventure and appreciation of nature and wildlife. He sold his practice in Toronto and traveled north to Moose Factory, Ontario where he joined staff at the Moose Factory General Hospital [now Weeneebayko General Hospital] where he mentored a close group of newly graduated physicians and traveled to remote communities to provide emergency medical services, at times by snowmobile or helicopter. Dr. Standley moved once more in 1994 to Kingston, Ontario where he established a base and became a physician with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) delivering medical services in the Kingston Penitentiary and the Millhaven Correctional Institute. A highly revered expert clinician and diagnostician across a career spanning 6 decades, Dr. Standley after he turned 80 years.
Being a successful physician is only part of Jonathan Standley’s story; he was a true Renaissance man. Jonathan embraced his mother’s love of music and, from her nurture he grew a natural talent for the piano, and later the guitar and trumpet. He became a consummate musician and a composer, and he loved to showcase his talent and remarkable artistry playing piano by ear. Jonathan was the life of any party. He acquired his pilot’s licence in Canada and enjoyed many hours of flying. He was squash champion at the Skyline Racquet Club in Toronto for 5 years running. To mark his 75th birthday Jonathan bought a motorcycle and drove out to Victoria on Canada’s far west coast and the following year he drove out to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia on the east.
But Jonathan’s true love was being on the water and his passion was sailing. Before his 20th birthday he sailed across the English Channel from Isle of Wight to Guerensey, and from Málaga through the Strait of Gibraltar to Casablanca to celebrate his 21st. Jonathan skippered and crewed several long voyages circumnavigating the oceans and seas. His voyages included an Atlantic crossing from the UK to Canada that made headlines for the first ‘sailing couple’ to do so; he circled Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope and sailed through the Panama Canal. If there’s a port in the Caribbean, Jonathan has stopped in there, and he enjoyed many sailing holidays in the British Virgin Islands – a favourite, happy place where an artist wood burn-etched his name in the beam above the ‘Soggy Dollar Bar’ on Jost Van Dyke.
After arriving in Canada, Jonathan’s yachtsmanship attracted a lot of attention when he entered the North American Star Class Championship as an ‘open entry’ (unknown) participant at the Port Credit Yacht Club and won event champion. Soon after, he was sponsored into the Royal Canadian Yacht Club and proceeded to win races and regattas, becoming a champion in the Canadian sailing circuit and continually breaking records – many of them his own. When he arrived in Kingston, Jonathan joined the Kingston Yacht Club where he charted a trajectory of Shark Keelboat Racing wins. And when not competing on the water, Jonathan mentored and taught many others sailing and navigation skills and a love of the sport.
Jonathan is pre-deceased by his parents, and brothers Simon and Timothy ‘Tim’ and is survived by his beloved sister-in-law Judith ‘Judy’ Standley and his nephews Guy (Jen) and Mark (Brenda) in Milford on Sea, Lymington, UK. Jonathan also leaves behind many close friends who miss him dearly. He is entrusted to the James Reid Funeral Home. A celebration of life will be held in September. Memorial donations are welcomed to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières Canada and H’art Centre in Kingston.