[5] This was a one-day festival, featuring an historic appearance by John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band, and which resulted in the release of the album Live Peace in Toronto 1969.

Witmer continued to sing locally through the balance of the 1970s, rejoining Whiskey Howl for a reunion concert that resulted in the band's second album release, Live at The El Mocambo, in 1981.

The music with which Witmer was associated at the time was described as "the raw & powerful Delta and Chicago blues, rhythmic New Orleans and Tex-Mex tunes, old rock and roll gems, the smooth urban sounds of Detroit and Philadelphia, as well as many original compositions.

"[12] During this same period and for the last fifteen years of his life, Witmer was an employee of the British Columbia Institute of Technology, where he worked with Larry Smith, co-founder of The BelAirs and The Fabricators.

[1][13] In the week following his death, a memorial service was held for John Witmer in Vancouver, attended by family, musical contemporaries and colleagues from the British Columbia Institute of Technology.