ARICHAT: The life of local veteran, potter, father, husband and grandfather highlights service to his country, passion for arts, dedication to family and advocate for a better world.
In the company of his wife of over 60 years, John (Jack) Victor Ouellette, passed away on Jan. 15, at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish.
Born in 1938, Ouellette went by Jack and was raised in Amherstburg, Ont.; after completing high school, he went on to join the Royal Canadian Navy and graduated from Canada’s Naval Officer Training Centre.
There, he was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant and while studying had the chance to try flying, where he later decided to become a naval aviator, and would go on to do training with the United States Navy and fly various planes and helicopters from HMCS Bonaventure and Shearwater, eventually leaving the Navy in 1963.
Jack and his wife Peggy returned to Amherstburg, Ont., and he pursued his love of art, going on to study at the Detroit School of Fine Arts, where he was introduced to pottery. When the couple moved their young family to Dartmouth, Ouellette graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD).
In 1972, Peggy was hired by the Richmond District School Board and the couple moved to Arichat, a place where they would call home for the next 40 years. It is there that Jack opened his pottery studio practicing and refining his craft.
In his early days, he made earthenware and would go on making creations from deep coloured plates and bowls to intricately shaped vases, cups and more. Jack’s work was available in art and craft galleries large and small all over Nova Scotia.
An active member of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and a founding member of the Strait Area Palliative Care Society, he was always mindful to consider those less fortunate and willing to express his beliefs.
His sons suggest their father, a man of high principles and a strong social justice advocate, was someone who challenged himself, his family, his friends, and his community to be better. They remember when politicians who stopped in the house during their campaign were required to sit down and make their case, regardless of political affiliation.
“Tommy Douglas, Ed Broadbent, Alexa McDonough and many others in the NDP visited my parents, and even though Dad agreed with them on many issues, he was not at all shy about pointing areas where he did not agree,” John Ouellette said.
He was active in his church and his son explained that their home was very much a bit of a second home for the various parish priests, who ministered at Sacred Heart in Johnstown and Assumption parish in Arichat.
“My parents were definitely Catholics who pushed for change,” John said. “But remained true to their faith, which helped them deal with loss in their own lives over the years.”
Jack battled mental health his whole life, an illness he was open and honest about, explained his son, who said they were way ahead of their time on being open about those issues.
“I can remember being brought to meet one of dad’s doctors, his psychiatrist who explained to me that my dad’s issues with depression and the symptoms he experienced were not caused by me, but by the illness,” John said. “That I should never feel that I was to blame for how he might have reacted to something. This was in the early 1980’s and it shaped my own understanding about those confronting mental illness.”
While the couple lost an infant son, Timothy, they raised two boys – John and Michael – and Jack’s pride and joy were his four grandchildren, Jacob, Hannah, Shannon, and Timmy.
Jack and Peggy’s home was open to many over the years and their house in Arichat became a gathering place for many debates and celebrations, as well as a home for a large extended circle of friends. The family states Jack will be greatly missed by his family and especially his wife and partner Peggy.
His legacy lives on through his family, his service to the community wide and far and currently there’s a Facebook group, Jack Ouellette’s Pottery Pics, where people can share pictures and stories about Jack’s work, a craft which he did so others could enjoy, his son John explained.
“Mike and I share the stories and pictures with Peggy. People gathered at our home to share a meal, a cup of tea, a goblet of wine, a mug of beer while discussing the events of the day or sharing something about their lives,” John said. “It is so fitting that so many homes do this while using dad’s work. And using was important to my father…the work was not just for display, his pots were meant to be used, and enjoyed.”