Mr. John "Jack" Francis Worster

Jack was a kind peaceful man. He was the youngest of six siblings. His family originally immigrated from Leeds England. Bill and Nora were product's of Jack's father William's first marriage. Arthur and Florence were products of Jack's mother Alice's first marriage. When William and Alice were widowed they married and had Frank in 1925 and Jack in 1927. Both William and Alice were 45 years of age when Jack was born. Quite a feat at the time in the 1920's. Jack was raised during the depression in East Hamilton and attended Holy Family School on Kenilworth Ave. Jack attended Central Tech on Sanford Ave and finished grade eleven when he became employed by Stelco in 1943 at sixteen and worked in the Machine shop in wartime production. Jack worked hard and became a respected foreman in the Machine shop. In 1946 Jack, and his brother Frank, and Brother-in-law Bill Waring took part in the famous 1946 Strike. Jack said they took part because they were all young guys and wanted summer holidays. Schedules in those days were six day work weeks, ten hours a day, and no summer holidays. Jack's father William who was originally a pipe fitter was a plant security officer because of his advanced age. He elected to stay in the plant during the strike. Jack stated that his father was furious with them. This issue worked itself out as time passed. In 1947 Jack met a gorgeous girl Elizabeth Noble. The couple courted, fell in love and spent their leisure time dancing to the big band sound at the area dance halls like the Lido deck at the Brant Inn in Burlington and the Wondergrove in East Hamilton, currently where Parkdale Park stands today. The couple wed September 6, 1952 at Holy Family Parish. They were wed by Reverend Joe McCowell. Elizabeth was originally raised in a Scottish Presbyterian household. Their marriage was not originally looked upon with favour by Elizabeth's parents. This was true especially of Betty's mother who did not like the prospect of her daughter marrying a man of English decent and secondly Catholic. In todays terms sounds outrageous but these were the issues of the day. The couple bought their first home on Ipswich Place in the township of Bartonville which later became annexed to become part of Hamilton. The house was a brand new 1 1/2 storey with three bedrooms and one washroom and the purchase price was $8000.00. The neighbourhood was tight in those days as the surrounding houses were occupied by mostly young families. Some of the names from the early years may be familiar to those of you reading this. Names like Sandy and Elsie MacLeod, Gord and Marion Dyment, Bruno and Carlene Giavedoni, Guerllimo and Tullia Tam, Pete and Jean Halcrow, Clare and Ruth Harcliffe, Jack and Pat Wilcockson, John and Doris Kozak, Chester and Joyce Green others include the Palmer's, the Kapron's, the Mill's, the Eve's, and the Cipretti's. Jack and Betty raised five children in the home. Richard was born in 1953, Chris in 1955, Donna in 1956, Robert in 1960 and Michael in 1964. Space was tight and frequent fights arose over mainly access to the one bathroom. The family grew and existed as most of the baby boomer families of the time. The children attended St. John the Baptist school during the elementary years. Jack was on the parent council in the 1960's. He played Santa Claus to the school kids as well as his own at Christmas time. Jack thought he was fooling his own kids but Chris and Rick knew it was their dad. Chris recognized Jack's shoes and Rick recognized his watch. In 1968 after twenty years at Stelco Jack was looking for a change in career . He always had a longing to become a High School teacher. Jack quit Stelco at 41 years of age and applied to teachers college, with the goal of becoming a High School shop teacher. This move was a bold one. Jack withdrew his pension funds at the time and with Elizabeth's skillfull budgeting the family of seven survived for a year without any income living off the pension funds. Jack obtained his teaching certificate and began teaching at Central Collegiate on Wentworth Street North. In 1970 Jack moved to the new Sir John A. MacDonald High School as Central was closed. Jack was a popular teacher and he is still remembered by many of his former students til this day. In his spare time Jack attended night school to obtain his grade twelve diploma receiving it in 1972. He then began attending Waterloo University on Saturday mornings with a goal of obtaining university credits. When school was out in the summer Jack returned to Stelco to work during the summer months. In 1974 Jack was presented with an opportunity to return to work at Stelco to teach in the apprentice training program. In his words it offered him the best of both worlds. The ability to still teach, and the chance to return to Stelco with better pay, and a better schedule (no nightshift). Jack continued working at Stelco in the apprenticeship training area and other areas in the Mechanical section of Stelco until his retirement in 1998. Jack almost obtained two twenty five year service watches with Stelco. Jack and Betty's family continued to grow with the addition of many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Jack was also a familiar figure at St. John the Baptist RC Church. He regularily ushered and read at Sunday mass. In retirement Jack volunteered at the Hamilton General Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital where he would speak with heart patients about what to expect from heart surgery. Jack was well versed in this subject as he himself had a quadruple by-pass in 1984, and struggled with diabetes since 1986. We used to marvel at the fact that no matter where he went, he would meet someone he knew. Whether it was at the mall, or when he traveled. The trip to BC, Scotland, Mexico, all had a story of meeting someone that he knew. Jack will be remembered fondly by many people for many reasons. Whether by the many years at Stelco, as a teacher, his involvement in the church and school, the Friday night bowling leagues years ago, the regular pool night at his son-in-laws, the house that he helped to build, the neighbourhood handyman (something needed to be done, "go ask Jack"), the wooden toys he built in his workshop with scraps that other people thought were firewood, and the list goes on. Always remembered and loved.