William John Hardy (Jack) Fleetwood
1914 – 1998

Jack Fleetwood was born on May the 19th, 1914, in the Cowichan Valley, and he remained there through the whole of his life. He had worked at a variety of jobs from delivery van driver for Frumento’s general store in Cowichan Station to log scaler for MacMillan Bloedel’s Shawnigan Division, and he had dedicated himself wholeheartedly to all his employment and personal endeavours.

His love of the Valley, his creativity, and his unabashed interest in everything around him can clearly be seen in the many articles he wrote for the local newspaper and for a number of magazines and journals, from the British Columbia Historical News to Business Logger.

To most people in the Valley he is probably best remembered either as a fount of local history or as a poet but he also touched many others through his involvement in a large number of local societies and organizations. Amongst these (and to name just a few) are the Native Sons of B.C., the Baden Powell Guild, the Cowichan Valley, Shawnigan, and Old Koksilah School Historical Societies, and he was a founding patron of the British Columbia Folklore Society. All these and quite a number of other organisations owe Jack an immeasurable debt of thanks for his generosity and support.

As a poet Jack’s works spanned almost the whole of his life. He wrote sincerely of incidents that were based upon personal experience and knowledge, and with an innocence and simplicity that is rarely seen. In some respects it can be compared with the poetry of Service and Swanson, but their works stem from a literary perspective that is one step removed from the daily reality that Jack lived and wrote about. Amongst his poems were some that had been written as songs that he had set to then popular music. One of these The Rum Runner’s Song (1931) had originally been set to an Irish tune that has been forgotten through time. However, because of his involvement with the Cowichan Folk Guild, the song came to the attention of George Halkyard who wrote a new tune for it and subsequently recorded it with “Full Circle” – on their first recording “End of an Era” – and this song, with its music, was published in the Canadian Folk Music Bulletin June 1995, (Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 18-19).

In the last year or so of his life he had been severely afflicted with bone cancer and his last five months were spent in hospital. Throughout all his months of pain he nevertheless remained clear-headed and alert, and his visitors (of which he had an inordinate number) were always welcome. He passed away very peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of Friday morning, January the 2nd.

Through many hours spent with him, often with a tape recorder, he became a valued informant to the Folklore Society but he also became a very special and precious friend to me. He was always gracious and concerned about the interests of others and he is missed by a great number of family, friends, and acquaintances.

Mike Ballantyne, B.C.F. No. 8, pp. 2-3