James Arthur Ernest Cloak

06 July 1925 – 09 June 2011

Jim lived a great life and fought with valiant effort, but he ‘screwed his courage to a stick’ and quietly let go at 10:45 pm 09 June 2011. He will be in our hearts forever.

Jim was born in Moose Jaw, SK on 06 July 1925 to Rose and Art Cloak. He is survived by his two sisters, Rose Lawson and Beatrice Shepherd and was predeceased by his brother, Gordon Cloak. He leaves his family and many nephews, nieces and friends to mourn his loss.

Jim started his career as a radio announcer at CHAB in Moose Jaw with a very popular morning show “The Cuckoo Club”. He met Patricia Breesnee, a continuity writer, at the radio station when she was 17 and it was love at first sight. They married 15 April 1954, on a blustery winter day in Moose Jaw and after a quick weekend honeymoon in Regina, they settled in to run the ‘Swing Inn’ in River Park for the next six years. The work was successful but very hard and when Mom said she didn’t want to work like that anymore, Dad sold the business and they moved to Prince Albert, SK in 1960.

A&W, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dairy Queen franchises kept them active for the next forty years while they raised their three children in Prince Albert; Robert (Hazel – children: Andrew (Mandi Marcotte and great-granddaughter Cassidy), Scott and Jonathan), Kathryn (Tina) and James (children: James & Matthew) all worked in the business until their lives took them in different directions. Mom and Dad sold their businesses in late 1997 and retired to Victoria, BC in January 1998.

Jim was President of Toastmasters (“Things go better with Cloak!”), belonged to the Kinistino Knights Lodge and rode with the Shriner’s Motorcycle Club in many parades. He served as Chairman of the Board for Sunnyland/ Plains Poultry in Wynyard, SK and, with a small group of KFC franchisees, turned the company from bankruptcy to a multimillion dollar industry. Jim was a lifetime member of Rotary and was a Paul Harris Fellow. He never missed a weekly meeting, maintaining perfect attendance for almost 35 years. He made up meetings all over the world, from Hawaii and Bermuda, to Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand. He even attended a
meeting from a phone booth in Alaska.

Jim and Pat worked hard, had fun and loved much. Dad will live on in his wife, children, grandchildren and great-granddaughter who will never ever forget the greatness in his soul.

A Service of Remembrance will be held 10:30 am on Friday, 17 June 2011 at SEQUOIA GARDENS MEMORIAL, 4665 Falaise Drive, Victoria. Everyone is welcome. Burial entrusted to Royal Oak Burial Park. A lunch will follow at the family home. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccallbros.com.

“And by and by Christopher Robin came to an end of things, and he was silent, and he sat there, looking out over the world, just wishing it wouldn’t stop” – A.A. Milne