Lister, Jim

Jim Lister was born January 5, 1928 in Toronto.  He grew up in the tough days of the Great Depression and well remembers that the family lost their home.  He also remembers exploring the Don Valley, and how different a city Toronto was at the time.  Jim had older brothers and two of them enlisted in the army and were sent overseas, where Jim’s oldest brother was killed.  Jim’s own turn to join up came in the summer of 1945, when he turned 18 and just as the war was coming to a close.  He trained at Cornwallis and Victoria and went to sea.  An early voyage was a big one around the Americas, from San Diego to Cape Horn and up the Atlantic side of South America, visiting many ports-of-call.  He sailed through heavy weather, rescue and goodwill missions, and when it was over he joined the Legion and married and settled to enjoy his many years in postwar Canada.  Jim Lister was interviewed at the Sunnybrook Veterans’ Wing in January 2020, by a delegation of Grade 10 history students.