John Claude Somers, 63, died at home in Danville, California on April 26, 2026, after a fierce battle with pancreatic cancer. John was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada on January 17, 1963, to Ken and Muriel Somers. He was a gifted kid, and Muriel fought to get him into public school early because he kept asking why, why, why. She could tell he wasn't going to stop asking, and he didn't. He took that relentless intellectual approach into university, graduate school, his business in the global consumer-products industry, and every day of his personal life. He was curious about everything and found it difficult to forget anything, making him compelling to be around.
During his busy early career creating and selling sensory software globally, he met the love of his life, Jennifer Jo, while working with a client in New York. After a challenging cross-border courtship, Jennifer Jo moved with him to Guelph, Ontario, where he had graduated from the University of Guelph in food science, started his first company, bought his first house, and built a network of lifelong friends. Soon they were married and welcomed their first son, Theo, starting the family life that became their first priority.
His lifelong appetite for learning brought the family to Boston, where he earned his engineering MS from Tufts University, built his business creating solutions for clients like Gillette, and became a US citizen. John and Jennifer Jo partnered in work as well as family, exploring interesting business problems and enjoying all that the East Coast offered, while welcoming their second son, Eli, in 1998. Opportunity for both John and JJ called them to California, where the adventure continued: the wine industry for work, and all things family for experience and play. From camping in the mountains to sailing in the San Francisco Bay, John's greatest legacy is the spirit he instilled in his sons to love and live life to the fullest.
John can't be remembered without his love for hockey. He played for sixty years. Teams and tournaments across the United States and Canada, as a player in dressing rooms full of friends he kept for decades, and as a coach for his sons' teams in California. He was openly proud of the passion his boys shared for the game, and considered it one of his most important gifts as a dad. This culminated in the greatest highlight of his hockey life during an early-2025 beer-league game, where he and his two sons all played on the same line, and the announcer called out a goal: scored by Somers, assisted by Somers and Somers.
He had a full life beyond the work and the rinks. He loved the outdoors, art, music, and acting. He sailed, and on the water with friends he talked about his family. He could talk seriously about a wine, a film, a piece of music, a hockey play, a research paper, or a joke that had been running between him and a friend since the eighties. He was a renaissance man to the core, generously shared his knowledge, and didn't think one type of knowing was more important than another.
Friends remember the sparkle in his eyes. His sly humor. The kind way he made you know he was paying attention to you. He never forgot a birthday. He answered the phone. He kept up with people across decades and continents, and when something funny happened on a Tuesday, he was the friend you texted first. He was, as more than one person has said, a once-in-a-lifetime friend.
His diagnosis was dire, but he met the disease with the same clear willpower he brought to everything else. Strong as an ox and deeply stubborn, he refused to let it take the things he cared about most. His curiosity. His humor. His family. His friends.
He is survived by his devoted wife, Jennifer Jo Wiseman; his sons, Theo and Eli; his dog, Millie; his brothers, Steven and Peter; and his niece, Chloe, and nephew, Coleman.
He also leaves a wide network of friends, from his earliest hijinks and hockey rinks to the last beach and sailboat he stepped onto.
A celebration of his life well lived will be held in California on July 11, 2026, and a second celebration in Canada on August 15, 2026.