Jack Desmond Wordsworth – A Life Well Lived

It’s always good to reflect on where we came from, what in our past helped determine our present, and where we are currently.

My father, Jack Desmond Wordsworth, clearly had a huge impact on my life. This comes from many levels, maybe the greatest being his decision to move the family to Canada when I was young.

Dad was a pilot in the RAF during World War II, and unlike his brother Douglas, he survived the war. Afterwards he worked on the docks as a plumber-fitter. He also went to school to learn how to weld.

He obviously was good at it, because he began to teach welding as a trade at college.

Perhaps the structure of school wasn’t for Dad, because eventually he got a job in sales at a company that supplied gases for welding. Since this was after the war, owning a personal vehicle was uncommon, so my Dad took trains and buses everywhere he went to meet with customers, and potential customers. Gasoline was also in short supply which made having a personal motor vehicle more challenging.

Eventually the company decided to start operations in Canada and Dad was offered the job to oversee the opening of the Canadian office. This clearly was a huge decision and one that would have had great consequences. But my Dad saw opportunity and took the leap of faith.

It clearly paid off. The late 1950s and 1960s were a time of huge growth in the North American industrial base, and the industrial company my father was with was well positioned to help with that expansion. Over time Dad would open multiple branches across Canada, and as such, he traveled a lot and spent some of his time on the road.

General Motors had a plant in St. Catharines Ontario so there was a great deal of industrial activity in the area. My parents bought their first house here in about 1963 and it cost $3,000.

Today the average home in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is worth more than $900,000, while in the City of Toronto, not too far from St. Catharines, that figure is $1.23 million. Now there has been some inflation and other factors, but the reality is that home ownership seems to offer a far greater challenge to a young couple today than it did when my parents were buying their first house. They were able to afford a house and still have mom at home to raise my sister Hazel and myself.

Over the years my Dad worked very hard eventually rising to become President and CEO of this large North American corporation. He opened new branches, and grew the company significantly. He looked for new opportunities and he added to the stable of existing products and markets.

Dad retired in the late 1970s and enjoyed a productive retirement until his death in 2010. He worked very hard in his life and probably didn’t spend as much time with the family as he would have liked. But after the challenges he faced early in his life, being successful in business was very important to him.

He saw opportunity and went for it. It’s been one of the guiding principles of my career and I am very grateful to have had his example to follow to my own personal success.