James Ernest Shipka

Jim lived a full and complete life. He was born and raised in Edmonton, but also spent six years growing up in St. Catherines, Ontario, raised primarily by his mother and step-father. Jim graduated from Victoria High School, having been elected the Student Council President and was active in all sports. Jim graduated from the UofA as a Chemical Engineer. During that time, he won MVP for the Alberta Junior Football League playing for the Edmonton Wildcats.

This success catapulted Jim to break into the 1956 Grey Cup champion Edmonton Eskimos as a fullback at the age of 20. He began a career that lasted more than six years, and included playing in two Grey Cups, winning one in 1956 and playing again in 1960. Jim retired from the Eskimos at age 27 after a back injury.

Jim then completed a 10 year career as an Engineer and safety consultant with Dow Chemical. Following this, he pursued careers in construction, Rubenfeld Synergy, and multiple health-related network marketing companies before retiring during COVID in 2020.

Jim enjoyed keeping fit, doing handy tasks around the house, playing guitar and singing, laughing, helping people and spending time with family and friends.

Jim is survived by his wife, Audrey, of 67 years of marriage; deceased daughter, Sass and her husband, Luc; Jim's son, Ken; and his wife, Loreta.

Jim Shipka will be remembered as a kind, fair, gentle, and humorous man who brought joy to everyone he met!

Jim Shipka’s Eulogy

Good afternoon. My name is Ken Shipka. I’m the proud son of Jim Shipka, a man who lived for 90 incredible years, with a wonderful story which I am honoured to share.

“Jim was the kindest, sweetest, gentlest man I have ever met in my life” was the message left on Audrey Shipka, Jim’s wife’s, answering machine from network marketing entrepreneur, Ron Williams, who has met many, many people in his life. Wow! What a complement for Jim.

On August 9, 1935, a boy was born in Edmonton whose Ukrainian parents named, “James.” As described on a coaster that my father used frequently, James originates from the English form of “Jacob,” described as “He is strong, handsome and intelligent, faithful, loving and fair. You can depend on him.” What an apt description of James, a man who in fact told me recently that he would like to be known as someone who was “fair.”

Jim Shipka was “born a lefty,” in dad’s words, meaning “left-handed”, He lived his first six years in Edmonton with his two biological parents and several siblings. As an infant, dad suffered a serious and painful mastoid infection which required the removal of part of his inner ear and a hospital stay for several months. This hindered his hearing throughout his life and marked one of many accidents and injuries that he suffered but overcame.

At the age of six, Jim’s mother left her husband and moved to St. Catherines, Ontario, to live with and marry another man, Walter Kucherepa. My father took a train ride along with his younger sister, Elsie, to join his mother and step-father. While the initial separation from his mother was likely traumatic at first, re-uniting with his mother and living with his step-father became a blessing for Jim. Walter treated dad as his own son, and Jim saw Walter as a substitute father.

However, Walter may have got more than he bargained for when he married Jim’s mother. My father was constantly getting into mischief and experienced countless accidents as a result.

One example of a story dad shared was, quoting dad’s own words, “I really enjoyed my time in school and because of where we lived at the edge of the city limits and a block from the fruit orchards, I got to have fun “swiping” fruit from the nearby orchards that were there. I especially remembered one time when we got chased by a farmer one summer day after we had filled our shirts with red grapes and as I was running down the railroad tracks, I tripped on one of the railroad ties and squished the red grapes that I had stuffed in my white tee-shirt. What a mess it made! I got home and sure got a ‘lickin’.” And I can visualize young Jimmy proclaiming his innocence to his poor mother while wearing his red-stained white shirt!

A summary of a few more of dad’s “uneventful” childhood in St. Catherines included falling from the second floor of a house under construction and landing on a nail, getting knocked out and injuring his nose playing goalie in lacrosse, tearing open his foot while stepping on a glass bottle at the beach, and cutting his big toe along the concrete edge when running to dive into St. Catherine’s Welland Ship canal. Of course, my father jumped in after his brother, Peter, warned him repeatedly, “Jimmy, don’t you ever go in that canal!” That, of course, was the invitation my dad couldn’t refuse. The Welland Canal is also where Jim learned to swim as my dad shared with me that his friends simply through him in the canal and it was literally, “sink or learn to swim!” It was also during his time in Ontario when dad began to develop an interest in football, with professional teams from Toronto and Hamilton nearby.

With all the mischief and injuries my father experienced, I am truly amazed his mother still had more children! But dad’s numerous accidents might also help explain his eagerness to become a safety advisor during his early adult years at Dow Chemical.

My father moved back to Edmonton at age 11 where he skipped grade 7, and for the rest of dad’s life, whenever there was something discussed that he didn’t know, he had a convenient excuse, “that must have been taught in grade 7!”

Other trauma my father experienced included being locked out of his house by his father and step-mother on a cold, wintery night because he was late coming home and attributed his Aunt Margaret for finding him and giving him shelter for the night and possibly saving his life. His younger brother, Eddie, had tragically died a few years earlier at the young age of five after catching pneumonia due to prolonged exposure to cold.

As a young boy, dad delivered newspapers and shared how one time the brakes failed on his bike while riding downhill and fell off the bicycle with all the newspapers he was to deliver flying everywhere! I think that was the first recorded incident of newspaper air delivery! It was remarkable that dad lived to age nine, never mind age 90. But dad, I’m sure glad you did, or none of us would be here today!

Dad spoke very well about his Aunt Margaret, who may not only have saved his life, but also bought him his first and only guitar (on display here) as she saw dad strumming his shirts to music as if he were playing the guitar.

The childhood adversity Jimmy faced with his numerous injuries, broken family and poverty to become a professional athlete, chemical engineer and successful entrepreneur speaks volumes about Jim’s tenacity, drive, and character.

These years also saw dad begin early preparation for professional football and learning how to punt a football to give him an “edge” over the competition. My dad and his cousin, Louise, shared with me how dad would repeatedly go out and kick the football and “make” his sister Elsie and cousin Louise run out to get the ball and bring it back to him. And it was also around this time that Jim, who was keen to watch the Edmonton Eskimos play football but couldn’t afford a ticket, dug a hole under the Clarke Stadium fence to sneak in to watch the games for free! A few years later, my father earned his way to watch football as he got a job at Clarke Stadium changing the numbers on the scoreboard.

After leaving junior high school at McCauley, Jim spent his high school years at Victoria Composite, where he played every sport possible, was awarded the citizenship award, “the highest award bestowed by Vitoria Composite on graduating students” and was elected Victoria High School’s Student Council president. I remember my dad sharing a story with his family about the time he campaigned for president and his classmates raised him on their shoulders, chanting “Shipka, Shipka!” My father’s step sister recently shared with me how popular he was in school, and this story exemplified that popularity and the positive impact he made on people beginning in his youth.

After getting a grueling high school summer job moving heavy milk cartons, combined with his mother’s encouragement, Jim cultivated a drive to move out of poverty and saw advanced education as his ticket. He enrolled in Chemical Engineering at the U of A where he also played junior football for the Edmonton Wildcats and was awarded Alberta junior football’s Most Valuable Player in 1955 (his trophy on display). His football prowess earned him a starting position the following year in 1956 with the Grey Cup winning Edmonton Eskimos at the young age of 20, as the backup fullback behind all-stars Johnny Bright and Normie Kwong.

But it wasn’t professional football that was the highlight of dad’s university days. It was meeting “that blonde” by the name of Audrey, who apparently when dad introduced himself to her, had no idea what a local celebrity he was! Jim soon fell in love and travelled by bus and hitchhiked back home in the wee hours of the night to see the love of his life in Glenora in west Edmonton. When Jim couldn’t see Audrey in person, he called her and serenaded her with his singing and guitar, a gift given to him from his Aunt Margaret which is on display right here!

After graduating as a Chemical Engineer, Jim secured a job at Dow Chemical which lasted nearly 10 years until 1972. His first few years of work were at a chemical plant in Fort Saskatchewan where dad travelled while sitting on the back of his friend’s motorcycle with Jim holding a flashlight in the morning to see where they were going!

During that time, he played six years of professional football, including playing in two Grey Cups. However, it was a back injury in 1962 at the age of 27 that ended Jim’s career, frustrated that he never advanced to play first-string. Said Coach Eagle Keys on dad’s retirement news, “Sorry to lose a man like Jim. He was an honest worker and without his bad luck, could have become a star in this league.” On the other hand, when my dad complained to his stepfather, Walter, that he spent so much time during games sitting on the bench, Walter responded, “Well, you can pay me $3000 a game, and I’ll sit on the bench!”

While my father retired from playing football, his love of the game continued as he bought season tickets year after year, and for perhaps 20 years of our attendance, at every single game I accompanied dad, there would be at least one person who recognized my father and said, “Hi Jim.” I think it was equally true that for every single game, dad never remembered the name of anyone who said “hi” to him!

One key exception was when we attended a game with Eskimo alumni and dad introduced me to former Eskimo quarterback and Alberta Premier, Don Getty. I remember dad introducing me to Don Getty as, “this is my son, Ken Shipka.” Don Getty asked dad, “What’s your son’s name, again?” Dad repeated, “Ken Shipka”, to which, Don Getty responded, “I know the name, “Shipka,” Jim. I’m asking what is his first name?!”

I spent numerous hours with my dad playing “catch” with a football and his mentorship helped me earn a position on the same junior football team my father played on, the Edmonton Wildcats, under Coach Johnny Bright, the fullback my father played behind. I remember Coach Bright telling me in the locker room, “Tell your dad that you are a better football player than your dad was!” I shared that with my dad who had a big laugh, although I’m unsure how true it really was.

Part of dad’s coaching football was illustrated in my grade six year when my Physical Education teacher invited my father to come for a special visit to my elementary school and teach our class how to play football. Prior to this event, my father told me my spelling was atrocious and made me write a story every night where he would correct my spelling. Well, after my father spent a week volunteering to teach football to my 12 year old peers, our teacher asked the entire class to write a “thank you” letter to Mr. Shipka for the time he spent teaching the class football. My dad read every letter and when he finished, he said to me, “Ken, I read all those letters from you classmates, and their spelling was much worse than yours. You can stop writing stories to improve your spelling!”

I remember my father taking me to many visits to his worksite at Dow Chemical, and the family discussion we had when the company planned to close the Edmonton plant and relocate to a plant in Sarnia, Ontario. After the family discussion, and possible relocation, dad decided against it.

Instead, in 1972, Jim changed his occupation and pursued a career in construction building homes including duplexes, working alongside his stepfather, Walter, who was instrumental in dad’s success. I remember spending many days working with dad and “Grandpa”, as I called Walter, and witnessed many arguments with them on the job over dad’s Engineering-type attitude he brought to building. Dad built every home with care and precision, but as far as Walter was concerned with many lumber measurements, “Jimmy, what’s a quarter inch between you, me, and the rest of the world?”

Dad’s choice to enter construction in Edmonton in 1972 couldn’t have been timed better, with the price of a barrel of oil at only $3 and set to increase 10 fold over the next decade. I still recall my father asking me around 1980, “Why do I even bother building homes when the price of the property rises as fast as the money I earn from building?”

In 1982, dad chose to “semi-retire” from building homes while owning properties valued at about one million dollars, albeit much of it mortgaged. It was a good decision as the price of oil sank and Alberta went into recession. My parents sold off their properties but, with that, so did the income they generated, and compelled my father to seek alternate sources of revenue.

After an extended period seeking employment and working one or two jobs, in the late 1990’s, mom and dad spent four years training to become “Rubenfeld Synergists”, following in the footsteps of their daughter, Sass. After graduating, Dad practiced as a Rubenfeld synergist for several years but ultimately followed mom’s greater passion for improving people’s health through various network marketing companies, ranging from Awareness to Forever Green, They followed in the footsteps of their charismatic mentor, Marilyn, from Lethbridge and Ron Williams, whom I quoted at the beginning of my presentation. It was through network marketing of health products that dad met many new friends, some of whom remained friends right up to the end of his life.

Dad’s motivation to sell products was always to help people, never to make money. Nothing gave my father more pleasure than to see a person’s health improve and realize that his efforts made the difference. While mom did the initial networking and researching, it was Jim who called to follow up clients to ensure they took the products correctly to obtain the best health outcomes possible.

I still remember how one of their products made such a difference in a client’s son’s health that dad posted and kept his picture in their office for years because it gave Jim so much joy to see that he helped to make such a difference in this young man’s life!

In 2007, mom and dad celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary with many friends who are with us today. After 20 years of network marketing, from about the year 2000 to 2020, mom and dad finally retired as the world was hit with COVID19.

In his late retirement, Dad loved to work around the house, pick raspberries, follow “world events” with mom on the internet, play his guitar and sing after prodding from family or friends, share football stories including showing off his Grey Cup ring, and shovel the sidewalks of not just his own, but sometimes even those of their neighbors. “Pay it forward,” my dear father would tell me after the family chastised the 88 year old with osteoporosis for his snow shoveling. My father seemed to be saying, “I might get old someday, and I will then appreciate somebody else doing this for me!”

My father’s memory began to decline about five years ago, with a worsening lack of short-term memory but a long-term memory and sense of humour that never faded. Dad and I enjoyed countless times laughing at the same humour, of which mom, Sass and Loreta were obviously more amused by the laughter we shared, than the joke itself!

Dad’s physical health was excellent as he took pride in eating healthy, organic food that he and mom bought from the Strathcona farmer’s market, a weekly regime they enjoyed for decades. Dad regularly exercised with weights, did push-ups, climbed stairs and went on daily walks with his wife right up to this year.

My father enjoyed 20 years living in the Mill Creek area due to its proximity to nature, the farmer’s market, and their caring neighbours. Thanks to their daughter, Sass’s efforts, they also spent and tremendously enjoyed two of their last years attending a CHOICE program for seniors still living in their home. A recent visit with my mother illustrated how much staff and other seniors loved my dad’s company and stories! My father could light up the darkest room!

But Jim’s biggest heartbreak in life was undoubtedly the unfortunate passing of his daughter, Sass, just over two years ago. My father and my sister were very close and, while my father’s memory was fading, the death his daughter was something he never forgot and mourned right up to his own passing. If there’s a silver lining in my sister’s early departure, it would be that she did not have to witness her father’s decline and passing which for me, was the most painful thing to watch, and for Sass, would have been devastating.

While my father was the epitome of health for most of his life, a large protrusion on his left buttock appeared in January of this year which was misdiagnosed as a hematoma from a fall. An MRI in September re-diagnosed this as an aggressive sarcoma, and it was this cancer which literally sucked the life out of him.

But in spite of my father’s pain and discomfort, he could always find the positive in anything, and about two months ago he told me, “Ken, you know, the positive thing about this ailment is that I get to spend more time with you, my son.”

The night before my father passed, he was present with his wife, Audrey, his daughter in law, Loreta, his niece who was the flower girl at his wedding, Chris, and myself. That same night, Jim’s sister, Joanne, had a dream about dad and how their family was decorating the Christmas tree with those long silver decorations, and Joanne was struggling to place them on the tree while dad showed her how to place each one correctly on the tree, “your dad being so precise and detailed” recalled Joanne from her dream. Yes, that sounds exactly like my father!

My father passed away around noon two weeks ago today, peacefully, and seemingly with minimal pain and discomfort.

Yes, Ron Williams, you were right. My father was indeed the kindest, sweetest, and gentlest husband, father and friend a person could ever know, and everyone who had the good fortune to meet Jim Shipka was always a better person than they were before.

Dad, give Sass a hug from me, mom, Loreta and everyone who came here today to say, “Goodbye.” Rest in peace, dad!