Category: J

Rod Johnston

Honoured by Donna Valiquette, Laura White, Kim Quirt, Jasmine Marietti, Brittany Karn, Kelly Price, Paul Gauthier, Allison Zadorozny Quinn

If Rod Johnston were an ion… he would be positive; if he were a magnet… he would be positive; if he were an integer… he would be positive. Rod is the most positive person we know. It is this spirit that makes Rod a memorable and inspirational force in our lives. He is a wonderful dentist and an outstanding public speaker. A driving force with the Community Waterfront Friends, Rod is humble about his participation in the waterfront development.  He is generous with his time, energy and money for this vision that he believes will benefit those of us who are here today but also many generations that are yet to come.  That is why we have selected him to be honoured with a pergola leaf at North Bay’s Civic Plaza.

Shortly after we met Rod, he received the Kiwanis Citizen of the Year award. During his acceptance speech he told a story about being in Honduras on a dental mission and how he remembered this little girl coming in. Her brother had carried her for miles and miles, with no shoes on, because his sister needed her teeth fixed. This was difficult for Rod to speak of. This is the side of Rod that few people get to see on a regular basis. Rod is a caring man with a devotion to helping others.  He is generous to those he cares about, and to strangers as well. He asks nothing in return and takes real pleasure in the joy he creates with his gifts.  We believe that his generosity is contagious and that each of us pays it forward after witnessing his giving spirit.

He has a way of helping others develop “visions” that express the best possible outcome for any given situation or person.  He sincerely believes that if you set your sights or goals first and then work on developing a plan to achieve them, nothing is impossible, and things will fall into place when you least expect it.  It is this unfailing optimism that makes Rod so unique.  Rod is so positive that a plan will come together, one can’t help but believe it is going to happen.  This is something Rod shares with all of his acquaintances, whether it is the Community Waterfront Friends, a student observing our dental office, an employee, or a patient in the office.   He takes great joy in watching others complete this cycle and achieve their dreams and never fails to share a great success story.  This is another way that he inspires us to be positive people.

On any given work day we can always count on Rod to be cheerful, sincere, and fully engaged in the enjoyment of the day.  Even when circumstances are not perfect, he always manages to look on the bright side and smiles his way through the challenges that present themselves. After working with him for many years, it is evident that this attitude extends beyond the workplace. He carries it forward in all aspects of his life.  In doing so, he inspires all of us to put our best foot forward and keep our chin up at all times!

Rod Johnston deserves to be recognized as a man who has set the bar to new heights when it comes to selflessness, sincerity and being a stepping stone to dreams that have yet to come true.  His devotion to the success of our downtown community coupled with his devotion to the happiness of those around him makes him our first choice for this pergola leaf.  Thank you Rod for sharing the gift of yourself with all of us!

Rod’s Team

Honoured by Margie Howard, Dr. Vivian Jamieson, and Katherine Munro

Jessie Bell (Smith) Jamieson,RN
Registered Nurse, Lieutenant of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during WWII serving in Newfoundland, Britain, Italy and Holland, devoted wife and mother, tireless volunteer, caring friend and neighbour.

Jessie lived a full life of goodness and grace. For all of us who knew her, she was a shining example of a life lived well, her thoughts and actions most often in the service of others. She always saw the big picture, knew what was important and was there when you needed her. Jessie lived life without regret. She did not hesitate when her conscience spoke or when she saw a need.

Jessie had one cardinal rule, one that she invaluably passed on to her daughters and grandchildren. “It is important to just show up”, she said, “and let the rest take care of itself”. Whether it was a joyful celebration of a family milestone or the difficult task of sharing in a friend’s grief, Jessie was the first in line to help. At her best in a crisis, she did not shy away from the tough tasks in life. She put her own concerns aside when she knew she could make a difference.

Growing up the fifth child in a family of seven in a close-knit mining town in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Jessie learned her caring ways early. Her constant, quiet manner was well suited to her chosen profession as a Registered Nurse. After graduating from the College of Nursing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she put her homesickness aside, enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps and headed overseas. It was wartime after all and the need was great. Over the next four years, while putting her own young life at risk, Jessie cared for countless wounded soldiers, allied and enemy troops alike.

After the war, Jessie met and married the love of her life, Dr. James Jamieson and in the next few years completed their family, giving birth to three daughters. Family was everything to Jessie. A more caring and devoted wife, mother, sister and daughter could not be found.

Jessie never lost sight of how blessed her life was and was quick to help anyone less fortunate than herself. In spite of a busy family life, she felt it was paramount to give back to her community. She was a dedicated volunteer for the Canadian March of Dimes, IODE, North Bay Hospital Auxiliary and the Canadian Cancer Society. Local charities could always count on her support.

But Jessie will best be remembered for her open and generous spirit. She was a great sport and loved to laugh. An avid golfer, she enjoyed playing in women’s leagues at Pinewood Golf Course and the North Bay Golf and Country Club. Sharing this passion with Jim, they played golf courses internationally into their later years. Her other interests included curling at the North Bay Granite Club as well as being an accomplished duplicate bridge player. There was, however, nothing Jessie loved more than to entertain her family and friends. She was a wonderful cook and will be fondly remembered for her lavish parties at the Jamieson cottage on Trout Lake.
There is a great deal to learn from Jessie’s life. Perhaps it can be summed up in her cardinal rule. It is important to just show up… in triumph and in tragedy… to help, support and console, but most of all, to enjoy everyone and every moment.

James S Jamieson MD FRCPs

High school teacher, physician, RCAF medical officer, eye, ear, nose and throat specialist, education advocate and devoted family man.

“You can’t live in the past,” Jim always said. “You have to look forward with enthusiasm and optimism.” Not easy to do when you have outlived all your contemporaries but that is exactly what Jim willed himself to do until his final days at the age of 97 years. Illness and old age did not dull his curiosity in the current, his interest in the lot of everyone he met or his intelligent wit.

Not that Jim didn’t love to reminisce; he was an entertaining storyteller. Tales of youthful days spent down by the brook with his brothers and fly-fishing with college friends on New Brunswick’s Restigouche River were favourites. He happily regaled us with his exploits on the hockey rink and ball diamond, more than once boasting of that day he almost made an unassisted triple play. Interesting cases and characters came to life when he shared his wartime experience as a medical officer in Labrador’s native villages.

But perhaps Jim’s greatest legacy was as one of the pioneer physician specialists of the Ontario Northland. After a decade of specialty medical training in Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology at the Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital and Harvard University, he did not accept one of a host of prestigious faculty positions but rather chose to enter private practice first in Kirkland Lake, ON and later in North Bay. Jim believed in the Ontario North, spending the next 50 years tending the hundreds of communities in his car. Jim worked long days, returning vision to the elderly, caring for the ear infections of the young and much more. Even in his eighties, “Dr. Jim” was available to younger doctors if there was a need. He campaigned tirelessly to improve medical facilities and equipment in the North.

And in the years before government health care, this was done often for what people could spare. Payment came in dribs and drabs and sometimes in the form of moose meat, chickens or fur pelts. That didn’t matter. Medicine was Jim’s treasured vocation, one he studied and loved for a lifetime. That love never shone more brightly than in the care and compassion he showed every patient he attended.
And when there was talk of establishing a university in North Bay, the origin of Nipissing University, he was one of the first on board, serving on their board of governors and being the first president of the Nipissing Alumni Association. He was very proud of the university’s success. It is fitting that an award to recognize influential alumni has been named by the Alumni in his honour.

Over and above his passion for golf and playing violin in the North Bay Symphony Orchestra for more than 20 years, Jim’s greatest pride and devotion was to his family. The unselfish love and support he gave to his wife of 59 years, Jessie, and his three daughters, can never be measured.

By his own words, Dr. James Jamieson lived a wonderful life, spent caring deeply for others. He left his world a much better place and we in the North are fortunate that he passed our way.

Honoured by Margie Howard, Dr. Vivian Jamieson, and Katherine Munro

Thank you to Frances McParland for honouring Mary and for supporting the Waterfront Pergola campaign.  Story to follow.

Thank you Linda Elliot for honouring Audrey and supporting the Waterfront Pergola campaign.  Story to follow.