McNAMARA, John Robert ‘Jackie’ -
Jackie passed away on Jan. 8 in Kamloops, BC,, he was 65 years old. The cause of death was cancer. He will be buried in the family plot in Port Hawkesbury, Cape Breton. Jackie was the son of the late Marguerite and Joseph McNamara of Yarmouth, NS.
He was born in Antigonish, NS, and came to Yarmouth at the age of 3 when his parents moved to Yarmouth from Cape Breton. His father, ‘Big Joe’ McNamara, came to work as an engineer on the MV Bluenose when it went into service in 1956. He is survived by his older brother Albert who has recently returned to this area from Vancouver and now resides in Wedgeport. After graduating from Yarmouth High School Jackie attended St. Mary’s University for a year then moved West and spent most of his adult life in BC working as a Paramedic in the forest industry. In the 1980’s he travelled in Asia eventually building a house in the suburbs of Bangkok, Thailand. He would only spend part of the year there when the forest industry was closed down for the season.
Jackie was a beautiful child, a lovable teenager and a humorous yet no-nonsense adult, reflected in his serous choice of professions. There are no minor accidents in the forest industry in BC. His quick thinking under tragic circumstances was credited with saving many lives. He loved sports and was a natural athlete with a pure physical strength inherited from his father. Big Joe McNamara would lift the back end of a Volkswagen off the ground just for fun. Jackie could do the same. Like his father Jackie was a person with a lot of character and will be forever missed.