Obituary of George Clyde JENKINS

GEORGE CLYDE JENKINS August 2, 1926 Detroit, Michigan - July 21, 2020 Orangeville, Ontario Clyde was the son of Norman George and Freda Jenkins and brother to Bruce, Ross and Marjorie. He was predeceased by the love of his life, wife Anne (nee Smylie). Together they adopted their two sons Dave and Tod. Clyde will be fondly remembered by Dave (Sandy) and Tod (Deb); his grandchildren Christopher, Robyn, Michael and Erica; and great granddaughter Natalie. After high school in Toronto, Clyde joined the U.S. Army because of his dual citizenship. After basic training, he headed to the Philippines under the rank of Corporal (Technical Fifth Grade(T/5)) in 1945. He often told us that he was on board his transport ship at Midway when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. After his discharge from the U.S. forces, he returned to Toronto & area where he has spent the rest of his life. Clyde’s working career was a “jack of all trades”. It included being a door-to-door salesmen; a Toronto firemen; owning & running a construction firm (with his buddy Bill Kraft); a professional studio photographer; and an industrial display salesman & designer for a large Toronto manufacturer. Sadly, Anne passed away after a long battle with cancer in 1974 and although another partner was never found, he remained happy and raised his two boys and continued his working career until retiring in 1982. He was a “Health Nut” his entire life. As a young man he was a non-competitive swimmer. One of his favourite stories was when he got caught in a rip-tide while swimming with his army buddies in the bay of Leyte in the Philippines. He apparently spent a good part of a day being pulled out to sea before swimming back to shore totally exhausted. He became a “Snow Bird” spending many winters in San Diego, California with his sister and brother-in-law or at his trailer in Fort Myers, Florida. He would spend his summers with his sons, either in Calgary, AB or Orangeville, ON. Clyde was always the athlete whether he was running, jogging and exercising. In the 80’s Clyde discovered the joy of road bike cycling and was easily cycling 100’s km per week. In a local cycling competition, Clyde picked up a sponsor and proudly became known as “Clyde the Glide”. His sponsorship included hats, water bottles and cycling shirts. Those items and the medals won were prized possessions and were proudly displayed and bragged about to any who would listen. Over the past several years, Clyde moved into the Bethsaida Retirement Home in Orangeville, close to his son Tod. Clyde passed away peacefully in hospital, after a brief illness. Many thanks to the staff at Bethsaida and E & F-Wing at the Headwaters Health Centre for their care & support. In Memoriam Funeral Services Inc. has been given the honour to serve the Jenkins Family.