8046
8046 J.E.
(John) Kimber
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At the train station
in Lethbridge, I met up with Terry Melnyk – a school friend and
neighbour. We boarded the train to Kingston, spotting many others (Heath
& Poffenroth) studying “On Becoming an Educated Person”. In
Kingston we descended from the train and were set upon by Yvon Soucy dressed in
scarlets with a French accent unfamiliar to us.
A blur of activity
introduced us to running the square and meeting our profs and their
nicknames. Physics by an expert in cold temperature. Math by Lcdr
Hicks (or Capt Crunch as class leader Dave Jurkowsky accidentally reported the
class). Sports and study – loved it all, until I failed second year and
then failed sups in third year – result: out of the college and up the hill to
CFB Kingston with a newly minted commission – but no degree. I hadn’t
learned how to study or take exams.
Posted to Gagetown in
fall 1969 as a newly minted RCEME Lieutenant and put in charge of 60 mechanics
in the field. Thank God for NCO’s. A year in the field including
the October Crisis. Then my old girlfriend from Lethbridge found me.
Renate Maria was interning in Halifax. Close enough for trips to Halifax
in my new Fiat 124 Spider. This led to marriage and a posting to
Halifax. We met Jim and Jean McCarthy at Terry Melnyk’s wedding and, with
their posting to Halifax, we became fast friends. Our son, Christian, was
born in the Infirmary -- a Bluenoser.
Posted to Montreal
and 202 Workshop Depot in 1974. Maria went to McGill to get her Bsc in
Physiotherapy. Six months later, it was UNEF II in Egypt for me and I
came home to a daughter, Kathryn. We stayed in Montreal when I was
posted down the road to BFC St Jean where my French became 5555. Next was
Valcartier. Maria worked with the Veterans wing of the CHUL My time
was in the HQ of 5 Bde and there was my friend Terry Melnyk in 5 RALC.
But rather than a posting to Ottawa, I took my release on 9 Sept 1981 started
studies in Mechanical Engineering at Universite Laval. A friend was a
prof. “No problem” he said. I stopped shaving and had to finally
learn how to study. Maria supported us in the manner to which we had
become accustomed.
By 1984, I graduated
with a Bsc in Mechanical Engineering. We took the family on holiday to
Europe (called it PHT – Putting Hubby Through). The trip instilled a love
of travel in all of us – especially the children. An old RCEME friend
contacted me about a job in Ottawa and I became a civilian contractor working
in PMO MOST. A lot of people I had known in or out of the military
working on fielding the New Deuce and a Half (MLVW), New jeep (Iltis) and new ¾
come 5/4 ton. Good fun. In the meantime, Renate Maria worked as a
physiotherapist at NDMC in Ottawa. From there I went to Thomson CSF where
I studied MILSTD 1388, practiced Integrated Logistics Support and even taught
it to DND. Then it was TCCCS and a move to Computing Devices Canada. One
of the first people I met there was my rook year CSTO – John Eason. Oddly
enough, I still had the feeling of my bowels turning to water, but he was
friendly.
Because of TCCCS CDC
(now General Dynamics) required a new plant in Calgary to provide DND with new
radio systems. We moved to Calgary where I worked with Rick Wright, Mark
Moore, Bob Morton and Terry Cockerill. I was part of the ILS team until 2007
when I retired.
Then, we volunteered
with an affiliate of médecins sans frontiers for Health education in less
developed countries. Those assignments took us to Vietnam and Bhutan with Maria
mentoring Physiotherapists at the hospital while I taught English and kept the
house.
Since retirement
there has been lots of travel – New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Cambodia,
Laos, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Bhutan, India, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Jordan, Israel,
France, Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, England, Ireland,
Poland, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil as well as every province and territory in
Canada. And let’s not forget Mexico, and the US for repeated
visits.
Celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2020
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