Good Sailors Never Grow Old, They Just Get a Little Dinghy

Happy 72nd birthday to Donald Gordon "Don" Jarrell of Courtenay, British Columbia!

A man of many hats

Don was born 17 Jan 1947 in Kincardine, Ontario, Canada to Culbert descendant, Susan Lorena "Toots" Westell and her husband, John Mackinnon "Mac" Jarrell.

Don at 3 weeks old.

Don's a born sailor. It says so on TV so it must be true!...

His mother, Susan "Toots" Westell was a lighthouse keeper's daughter; his grandfather, Oran Westell was a lighthouse keeper and worked on Great Lakes schooners; and his uncle, John Russell "Jack" Westell was in the Navy. So it's not surprising that Don has the sea in his blood.

Don's retired now but he spent 17 years as a supervisor at the Coast Guard, Marine Communications and Traffic Services Centre at Comox, British Columbia.

Don, overseeing the safety of Canada’s waterways

That was just one of his five careers. Let's turn back the clock and see how it all began.

Don, age 20

After leaving high school, Don worked as an electron microscope technician at the Ontario Research Foundation. During this time, he was building flying hours and getting his Commercial Pilot License. This led to a job as a commercial pilot where he was bush flying out of Nakina, Ontario and Parry Sound. He also worked as a Flying Instructor at the St. Catharines Flying Club.

Next, Don worked as an Air Traffic Controller in North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto Island, Toronto, and Oshawa.

Don working in Air Traffic Control in Oshawa. Is that a typewriter?

Don took a position with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as an Air Traffic Controller and ATC Instructor in Saudi Arabia for four years in Riyadh and Taif.

He took a couple of years off to sail a 41-foot sailboat around the eastern Mediterranean, based out of Cyprus. When he ran out of money, he moved back to Canada and worked as a car salesman in Langley, BC for a couple of years. He was the #1 Salesman for Hyundai in BC for both years.

Then he  joined the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) for Vessel Traffic Management (kind of like air traffic control on the water), and stayed with the CCG for 17 years until he retired. 

Now that his time is his own, Don likes to spend it on the water or travelling with his wife, Linda. He spends most of his time sailing his 32-foot  sailboat around Vancouver Island, Alaska via the Inside Passage, Haida Gwaii, the North Coast of British Columbia, and other locations.

Happy birthday, Don! And thanks for all the help you've given me in researching the Eliza Culbert - Richard Dagg branch of our family.

Don Jarrell's Family Tree:
Ancestors: 
John Culbert & Mary Ward (great-great-great-grandparents)
Eliza Culbert & Richard Dagg (great-great-grandparents)
Susan Dagg & Omar Westell (great-grandparents)
Oran Westell & Jane Russell (grandparents)
Susan Lorena Westell & John Mackinnon Jarrell (parents)