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OBIT: Jack Chester treasured San Juan River Valley

Port Renfrew resident involved in many local initiatives
8958051_web1_171016-SNM-M-Jack-Chester-headshot

In the beautiful San Juan Valley, with a view of the encircling mountains and overlooking the sparkling waters of the San Juan inlet, where he could indulge his love for nature and history, Jack Chester made his home for forty-six years.

Chester was born in 1931, during the Depression, when his dad had a job at Drapers Farm and Dairy. Named for his dad, he grew up with parents, Jack and Edith Chester, brothers Roy, Ed and Steve, and sister Sheila.

When his dad got a job as barman at the Colwood Hotel, he moved his family into the gatehouse of the estate of Hatley Castle. While Hatley Castle had been home to the illustrious James Dunsmuir family, the gatehouse was long vacant at that time.

One of the memories Jack Chester shared with us happened early in the Second World War. As a Boy Scout, he was conscripted to help patrol the coastline off Metchosin/Royal Roads. He recalled pedaling his bicycle (with a very limited headlight allowed) on routine evening excursions and on one occasion, the excitement of actually seeing the periscope of a submarine.

Chester grew up to become a logger, and as a falling contractor, he worked first in Metchosin and then in the Cowichan Valley. A versatile fellow, he could turn his hand to whatever the need.

He purchased a building that had once housed the school on the northwest side of the San Juan River, making a home for his wife and four daughters in one part of the building, and opened Port Renfrew’s first motel in the other part of the structure in 1973.

Not content to work daytimes for BCFP and file saws at night, he also operated a small shake mill. The way he recalled it, he never made any money, but at least provided employment for young fellows at the mill.

Chester was a hard working volunteer for the Port Renfrew Community Association as well as other projects. Working in the outdoors gave him the opportunity to know the majestic trees, rivers and creeks, the trails worn by passing prints of deer, elk, wolves and cougar. He reveled in the beauty of his surroundings, and volunteered his time to build and restore trails stretching from Fairy Lake and Lizard Lake to the trail to the Red Creek Fir, some mentioned in “Hiking Through History.” He also enjoyed working with Maywell Wickheim and Phoebe Dunbar on the Kludahk Trail up on the San Juan Ridge.

In 1987, when the federal government expropriated the land his home was on, to establish Pacific Rim Park, he bought a bungalow in the village itself, on Alvarez Place, where he and his wife Patricia settled in. When the CRD established a system of unpaid trusteeship in 1990, Chester became the first chair of seven elected trustees. The group took charge of local services i.e. garbage, fire protection and water supply.

Chester became a member of Sooke-Renfrew Forestry Society. Liz Johnson, also a society member, says: “I remember one day in particular, we had been talking about old-growth forests and he said, ‘Well, I’ll show you’ He took us down the highway, stopped at the side of the road and told us – just up here. He proceeded to climb up a very steep section of forest – going up just like a mountain goat, with the rest of us trying to follow as best we could, and he showed us a beautiful section of old growth forest. He so impressed us, and I know Jack will always be remembered by people who love nature, the woods and hiking.”

Perhaps it was his wartime experience with the submarine that piqued his interest, but Chester’s dedication to local history never wavered, and he collected volumes of photographs and clippings that have given an invaluable insight into local happenings.

Chester leaves his wife, Patricia as well as his four daughters, Sandra/Bill Berrow, Lila Perry, Laurie/Mark Kuzman, and Rhonda Chester. He also leaves grandchildren Jamie, Stephen, Kevin, Laurie, Tahnee, Chelsea, Logan, Kaysea, and nine great-grandchildren, along with other loved ones. His family will be celebrating his life at a private memorial in the San Juan River Valley he treasured.

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Elida Peers is the historian of the Sooke Region Museum.