January 29, 1925 - January 3, 2024
Jack was born in Dearborn, Michigan. In 1932, the economic consequences of the Great Depression forced his parents to re-locate the family back to their historic home in Perth, Ontario.
Jack graduated from Perth Collegiate High School in 1943 and immediately enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force where he served as a Bomb Aimer. After his discharge from the RCAF in 1945, he enlisted in the US Army Air Force. During his USAAF military service, he spent a year at Hines VA Hospital in Chicago recovering from skin grafting surgery.
Jack married Yolanda (Lal) Fortney in Toronto in 1954 and they spent their honeymoon in Miami, Florida. They moved west to Vancouver in 1956 and in 1959 settled for the rest of their lives in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Jack was able to remain in his Maple Ridge home until his death.
While residing in British Columbia before and after his marriage, Jack had numerous jobs including office clerk in an Upper Fraser sawmill and Ocean Falls pulp mill, salesman, door-to-door photographer and office clerk at New Westminster's BC Penitentiary.
Between 1963 and 1968, Jack attended the University of British Columbia as a part-time and full-time student and received a teaching certificate. He was one of the first commerce instructors teaching bookkeeping, typing, shorthand and business machines at the newly opened Prince George and Dawson Creek vocational schools.
During this time, he was also the host instructor on a weekly show, Time To Type, aired by the local TV stations. Jack later taught high school in Mission, BC and afterwards, for 12 years, taught commerce courses at Maple Ridge Secondary School, where he retired in June 1981. Jack was a strong proponent of education and all five of his children attended university.
Jack loved sports and was a member of the executive board for Maple Ridge Minor Hockey. He was a fan of the Vancouver Canucks and BC Lions. He usually watched games with Lal at home, most of the time standing and often shouting instructions to the players and coaches through their big screen TV.
Jack's parents, Joseph and Margaret, had six children: sisters Rita (deceased) and Carmel; brothers Bob, Len and Don (all deceased).
Jack is survived by his children Donald (Dawn), Catherine, Leonard (Tania), Frances (Dan) and Norman. He has eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Dad and mom had long and enjoyable lives (98 & 92 years respectively). They were together for 67 years. Dad dearly missed mom these last three years but now they are together again in peace.
We have so many fond memories.
The family would like to thank the staff members at both McDonalds (Westgate) and Tim Hortons (Lougheed) who gave their time to converse with dad, especially these past few years. He very much appreciated your acknowledgement of his presence each day (and the free coffee!).
In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to smilesforchildren.ca