Cherry, John William (Jack) died November 17, 2007 in Victoria after a short illness. Jack was born July 23, 1914 in Medomsley, County Durham, England. He attended University of Newcastle, graduating in 1935 with a first Class Honors degree in Geology.
Jack’s first job was with a tin mining company in Nigeria. In 1939 he left his job in Nigeria and joined a party that drove across the Sahara desert by car. Once back in England he worked in Newcastle and married Margaret Mary Dorothea (Dorrie) Meade on Feb. 22, 1941.
At the beginning of the Second World War, Jack was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant with the Royal Engineers, and in 1943 he became a member of the 3rd Indian Division, Long Range Penetration Group (better known as Wingate’s Chindits) in Burma. His last assignment was to accompany African troops back from India to their homes in Nigeria. At the end of the war he was released from service as a Major and was mentioned in dispatches.
Shortly after the war, he moved his young family to Peru, where he gained experience as a field geologist. While in Peru he completed his Master of Science at King’s College, University of Durham. The family moved to Canada in 1953 where he worked for Imperial Oil. Later in his career his expertise in information retrieval resulted in his moving to Exxon and working in New York and New Jersey. While with Exxon he was loaned to N.Y. City to help with its financial crisis in the late 1970’s.
Jack and Dorrie retired to Salt Spring Island in the mid 80’s, where he became active in the island community serving as President of the Salt Spring Chamber of Commerce before moving to Victoria.
Jack is survived by his wife, Dorrie, his children – Suzanne (James) of
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