In the Back of Everybody’s Minds
“It was always in the back of everybody’s mind,” John’s brother-in-law, Frank Hober, told People in 1994. The family was always worried about John’s extra weight and unhealthy habits that could (and did) lead to the same fate that his father suffered. “No one talked about it, but it was in the back of John’s mind, too.”
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Aside from the family’s (and John’s) unspoken concern over his health, his father’s death left a permanent mark on Candy’s mind in other ways. As a student at Neil McNeil Catholic High School in Toronto, John wasn’t thinking about a possible future in Hollywood. Rather, his love for football is what inspired him to dream of a professional career in the Canadian Football League (CFL).