SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Longtime-Northerner James "Jim" Jenkins - the man with a big heart whose bark was worse than his bite, according to his wife - died after a battle with liver cancer earlier this month.

The Jenkins family members in this photo - taken in Athabasca, Alta., about 8 years ago - are Jerry Jenkins, left, the late-Jim Jenkins, Lorna Jenkins and Jim Jenkins Jr.. Jenkins died after a battle with liver cancer on Sept 11. This was the only photo available of Jim Jenkins by press time. - photo courtesy of Lorna Jenkins

Lorna Jenkins, said her 64-year-old husband - who was born in Vancouver, B.C. - fell ill last summer. He was suffering from cellulitis and was experiencing painful swelling in his legs, said Lorna. In December, she said, he was diagnosed with liver cancer and died Sept. 11.

"In June, I had the boys come up ... to visit and his sister came out from Ontario," she said, adding that her husband was in and out of the hospital for most of this year before making his final visit around the middle of August. "We stayed at the hospital 24/7 until he passed away on Friday (Sept. 11)," she said.

Lorna said her husband loved firearms, used to watch a lot of football and he was supportive of whoever needed him.

"If you wanted help with something he'd be right there," she said. Jim was a strict father to his three sons but "his bark was worse than his bite," she said.

As a locksmith, she said, Jim used to answer calls at all hours - and was known for never wearing a coat.

"(Even) in the winter time," said Lorna.

Jenkins said she met her husband when the two were working as scout leaders.

"We met at a boy scout fundraiser in Burnaby, B.C., in January of 1974," she said. "He was up on the top of the truck piling newspaper and I was serving refreshments and that was the first time we met. We met in January and we were married in June."

Jenkins said the other scout leaders decided their fate.

"We leaders would get together and go to hockey games (with the kids)," she said. "They (other leaders) would say, 'we'll go and sit with the kids, you go and sit with Jim because he's got an extra seat.' They were pushing us together like that, and we didn't have a chance. They decided we were good together."

The couple moved to Yellowknife where they had their children. Jerry was born in 1976, followed by Jim in 1977 and Brian in 1981. In 1984, when her father-in-law fell ill, Lorna said her husband decided to move the family to Athabasca, Alta., to be closer to their grandfather and to work on a farm.

"We bought a quarter section of land and we survived on that," she said.

Came back to Yk

In 2001, with all of their children grown up and moved out, the pair noticed a job posting with the City of Yellowknife.

"We looked at it and recognized several names . so I said, 'Put in your resume and lets go back to Yellowknife.' We really like Yellowknife," she said.

City honours Jim

During the last city council meeting before the election, Mayor Mark Heyck said he was sad to announce Jim's passing. Heyck said Jenkins - who joined the city's team as a pumphouse operator in 2001 - was in line to take over the emergency dispatcher position at the fire hall, before he became ill. Heyck said Jenkins will be remembered as a man with a "big heart".

Jenkins served as an engineer in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1968 to 1973, and spent time peace-keeping in Vietnam. He worked for the Yellowknife Housing Authority and owned Northern Lock Service - having been trained as a locksmith - and also a taxi cab. In addition to his work for the city, Jenkins drove for City Cab.

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