John A Hammond died of complications from surgery. He was 85.
Family man, painter, sailor, socialist. Born March 28, 1927, in London, Ont., died March 13, 2013, in Toronto of complications from surgery, aged 85.
Jack, as everyone called him, grew up in a working-class area of West Toronto. He was the fifth child of 11, and during the Depression there often wasn't a lot to eat at home.
He delighted in telling stories about how he kept his older brothers from reaching across the table to relieve him of his dinner. He would eat super-fast, and if that didn't work he'd resort to spitting on his food.
Jack married his childhood sweetheart, Irene, who came from a family of seven. They spent more than 62 years together raising three children and sharing a love of their big extended families, which eventually numbered 51 nieces and nephews.
His first job was as a gold miner in Northwestern Ontario – tough, dangerous work in which he had a few close calls. When he came back to Toronto a few years later, he took a job as a pipe fitter with the Canadian Pacific Railway and worked there for almost 20 years. He then joined the Borough of York as a shop foreman and eventually became a mechanical maintenance manager until he retired in 1987. He and Irene were lifelong supporters of the New Democratic Party, volunteering in dozens of campaigns.
Jack had barely finished Grade 8 when he left school during the Second World War. Kids had to grow up fast in those days, he said, but he went back to school in his 40s to finish his secondary education. It was quite a feat – especially with a family of three to raise – but Dad was always a loving and attentive father, no matter what.
During night school, he took an art elective and went on to perfect his painting style for most of the next 40 years. He produced works for his own pleasure and as gifts for family and friends – and actually sold a few as well.
He also loved to sail. Jack and Irene bought their first sailboat a few years before retiring and sailed for more than 20 years from the Etobicoke Yacht Club.
One of his most profound accomplishments at the end of his life was tracing his own father's history. It was largely unknown to the family and something his father had never discussed. After more than 10 years of research, Dad managed to piece it together. He learned that he and his siblings were the children of a "Barnardo boy" sent from England at the age of nine to a foster home in rural Ontario as part of a controversial immigration program for destitute children.
Dad also discovered his father had fought and earned a medal in the Great War. Amazingly, he was able to track down living relatives in London, England, his cousin Eileen and her family. It was a very moving reunion last July between Eileen and Jack – reuniting the branches of the family on both sides of the Atlantic that had lost touch for more than 50 years.
Jack died a week shy of his 86th birthday after a life well lived and with no regrets.
He lived true to his beliefs in social justice and fairness to all. With his family gathered around him during the last week of his life, he told us to make the days count and remember to enjoy ourselves. We will.
Tom Hammond is John's son.