Dear friends it is with a very heavy heart that I announce today the passing of my Father James Bernard Glass at the age of 69 after an 8 month battle with Brain Cancer.  My Dad was a very important figure that has had a profound impact on my life….more than a Dad and often my best friend.  I have countless fond memories of him.  He was the hardest worker I have ever known often holding down more than one job when I was young to support our family.   Even into his mid-60’s his alarm clock was always set for 4:30 am so he can be at work for 6 am as an accomplished Machinist in his field building complex machines for Magna, Honda and many others.  On the back of all his hard work he provided me with everything we ever needed and taught me that through my own hard work and perseverance I can get what I wanted.  My father was a family man, never did he go out with the guys after work he always would come home and have dinner with us.  He was always very interested in our day, he wanted to know what we learned that day, what we did wrong and how could we do better next time.  He was always there providing sage advice and teaching us the importance of common sense and how that; unto itself will help us down the road of life.   Although my Dad has not highly educated he knew a lot.  One thing for certain he knew that to get ahead in the world today you needed a good post-secondary education and pushed us to achieve things that he never had the opportunity to attain as a young man.   This advice more than anything else has allowed me to excel in life.  I’m eternally grateful for that.

I grew up in the country and what a life I lived.  My Dad built us a baseball diamond when I was ten.  It had a Pitcher’s mound, bases and the road was the centre field fence and never once did a car take a baseball through the windshield but there were a few close calls.  I had a dirt bike that I rode for hours around our one acre parcel.  As loud and annoying as it was…never once did he complain.  He taught me to shoot a gun at the age of 12…I was hooked.  We would often shoot targets and clay pigeons and although I was a good shooter with my modern and very fancy shotgun he would always beat me with his 1960’s Cooey Single Shot 12 gauge full choke….he could light the sky up with lead let me tell you.  We spent countless hours in the tin tippy (the Lil’A named after my wife Andrea) fishing for Bass or Muskie. Although we never had the best of luck catching “the big one” we did have some nice catches and great memories on Balsam Lake, the Burnt River, White Lake and most recently Lake Simcoe.  More importantly than the fishing my Dad just liked getting out on the water and spending time with his son - lunch and gas was always on him.  I was always active in sports Baseball in the Summer and Hockey in the Winter.  I remember the Sunday 6:00 am Hockey practice times, waking up in the dark and riding the back of the green Ford LTD with white convertible top to the rink. The mornings were cold, the car just as cold as the top was anything but airtight and yes the first blast of heat was a mere 2 km before we got the rink.   He took this all is stride, never asked me to skip a practice so he could sleep in.  He could tell the best shop floor jokes with amazing tone, timing and precision.  Although they were often crude he made people around him laugh and brought so much joy to the people he knew.  Both myself and my brother Greg were honoured to have a Dad as great he was.

In closing my Dad was lived a simple and fairly private life – he had a small circle of friends and family.  He wore knee high socks held up by elastic bands, running shoes and white undershirt.  He also had his own views on the world and no one was changing those.   He knew what was important in life to him and put that above all else.  He leaves behind a loving family – incredible wife and mother Ruth Glass (married 47 years), my brother Greg his wife Stacy, Grandchildren Kristen (8) and Lukas (5) as well as my wife Andrea, daughters Ava (11) and Lauren (9).  He loved his family more than anything else. 

"What we have once enjoyed, we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes part of us.”  Helen Keller

Rest in Peace Dad….until we meet again….

Jason