The sons of a former teacher at Centre Wellington District High School are remembering their father as someone who loved the outdoors after his recent death during a whitewater canoe trip in Northern Quebec.
From the age of about six years old Jack Frimeth was nicknamed the ‘little drummer boy’ by family because he always seemed to be marching to the beat of his own drum, said his youngest son Daniel (Dan) Frimeth in an interview by phone.
“He was funny, quirky. A neat and unique individual. Truly one of a kind,” said Dan.
Born in Toronto, Frimeth’s love for the outdoors led him to begin his adult life in a northeastern Ontario town of fewer than 5,000 people.
“You would think nine times out of 10 people grow up in Toronto and big cities like that end up living in big cities, but that guy was in Cochrane at age 20 or 21 running his own fur trap line, living in the bush by himself,” said Dan.
Living in a remote community, Jack developed a respect for Indigenous communities, something he carried with him until the time of his death, when he was teaching at a remote Cree community in northern Quebec.
He taught at the Upper Grand District School Board from 1998 until 2017, when he retired from Centre Wellington District High School (CWDHS).
When teaching at CWDHS, Jack began a series of exchange trips with his students and those living in remote communities, starting with Davis Inlet in Newfoundland and Labrador, said his oldest son Jacob (Jake) Frimeth.
“My dad thought it was a place he wanted to go and to see what he could do to help, so he brought a group of students up there and they were able to come down here,” said Jake.
“A student of his said his exchange trips changed his life. Hearing things like that, of the impact he had on people and what he did for those communities, it’s something he took so much pride in,” said Jake.
Jack also founded the CW Aboriginal Club, which collected clothes and baby items for First Nations communities and brought in guest speakers to educate students about difficult issues, like the residential school system in Canada.
He also independently raised money for Indigenous initiatives by mixing his love for those communities with his love of canoeing.
“He was always up to something. That guy was never sitting still,” said Daniel.
When they were young, Jack would take his sons across the wilds of Canada on canoe trips that were unlike most father-son experiences.
“My brother was five and I was seven — there was no easy canoe trip we ever did,” said Jake. “It was never just going to Guelph Lake or Algonquin Park for the week, it was taking a train or a plane into this river up in James Bay or Hudson’s Bay. It was never simple.”
As they got a little older, Jake stayed behind on the canoe trips but Dan kept going and it became something that bonded him with his father.
”Those trips were fun. When I think about the lessons I learned — it built a lot of character at a young age when it was just me and my dad flying in to a remote community in Nunavut or Northwest Territories,” said Dan. “The float plane flies away and we have two weeks to make it down the river and there is nobody within hundreds of kilometres of us. ‘It’s just me and you, old man and let’s make it back in one piece.’”
Jake continued his bonding with his father through one of Jack’s other loves — football.
Jack was an assistant coach at University of Guelph and McMaster University before moving on to Western University. About two years later Jake joined the team and played under his father’s coaching for five years.
“In my last year before I graduated we won a Vanier Cup and that was one of his lifelong dreams to achieve — when he was at Mac he got so close,” said Jake. ““It was almost like it was meant to not happen then, it was meant to happen when I was there playing as part of the team.”
“Just to give him that experience as a coach and a father. It was a storybook ending,” said Jake.
After winning the Vanier Cup, Jack brought it back to Centre Wellington for a day to inspire his students.
“The Vanier Cup is something he was chasing his whole coaching career,” said Jake. “The moment he got that day with the cup he wanted to bring it back to Fergus at the high school and it was just his day to show off a little bit and give back.”
Jack retired from Centre Wellington a few years ago and began teaching in remote communities in northern Quebec, partially to make a difference in those communities but also to chase some of the whitewater he loved to paddle in so much.
On May 22 he took his final solo canoe trip on a river near Chisasibi, a Cree community on the eastern shore of James Bay. He was 67 years old.
“What we know is he went out on a one-day trip at a river nearby,” said Jake. “He was on the water about 1 p.m. then he was going to come home after an eight-hour canoe down the river and from what I got it wasn’t a river that a lot of people do, but my dad was such an experienced canoeist and it wasn’t anything he didn’t think he could handle.”
“We are taking a little bit of peace saying he died doing something he loved. He really did,” said Jake.
A private service has already been held. A celebration of life is planned for the one-year anniversary of his death in 2022.
