Sawyerville resident Colonel Garneau―Jack―was certainly a cornerstone of our community.
Sadly, he left us last October 28. I was unable to attend his celebration of life, so let me celebrate him a bit here, in our Janus moment as 2026 begins.

I first met Jack in 2000 during community discussions in advance of upcoming municipal mergers. He made an articulate plea to residents to speak up for bilingual status in the new Cookshire-Eaton, where he finished his 32-year career as municipal councillor in 2010.

“When I started, all the meetings were in English,” he told me once. “Sawyerville was 90% English-speaking then. When I finished, all the meetings were in French, and the population was mostly French-speaking.”

Were there any potholes along the way?

“It happened smoothly,” he said.

His great good humour served him well during his 33-year career as a high school teacher and principal, too, ending at Alexander Galt Regional High School.

“Moving from small, local schools to large, amalgamated schools […] was difficult, but we tried to offer courses that made it worthwhile. That was the way the government wanted it done, so we tried to take what was offered and make the very best of it,” Col. Garneau said. “And in spite of the little flaws, I think we were successful with that.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed working with people, especially young people.”
Then there were his 25 years in the Reserves. He began as a trooper with the 7/XI Hussars, and finished as Honorary Colonel in the Sherbrooke Hussars, when the two regiments merged.
His community engagements earned him “some 30” medals, he told me once. I know of three: An Outstanding Townshipper Award from Townshippers’ Association, a King Charles III Coronation Award in 2025, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

His ancestors were among the earliest settlers in the area. “I’m proud that we seem, the various cultures―the three language groups because my grandmother was a Gaelic-speaking Scot―we all managed to mould together and fit in without any animosity at all,” he said. “In many parts of the world, that doesn’t happen.”

Jack Garneau had broad shoulders, strong enough for today’s community builders to stand on.
Thank you, Lois and family, for sharing him with us.

Rachel writes from the old hamlet of Maple Leaf, in Newport (rawrites@gmail.com).