Inspiration

John “Jack” Michael Lane, P.Eng. December 29, 1949 – September 17, 2013 is the namesake of Jack’s Memorial Cup, sometimes referred to as the “JMC”.

The JMC commemorates a dedicated family man, who had a great sense of humor and thirst for adventure. Jack was also a well-respected, professional engineer that loved the oil and gas industry.

An unforgettable man that we lost too soon after a brief, but courageous battle with cancer. Jack was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001, which he beat. And then in the summer of 2013 after enduring some discomfort, Jack underwent extensive testing and was soon diagnosed with a second, primary cancer. This time it was soft tissue sarcoma and the prognosis was grim. Jack put up as much fight as he had left in him but lost his battle and left us in September 2013. Prostate cancer is symbolized by the colour blue and sarcoma by yellow. These colours have been adopted as part of the theme for the event to acknowledge both diseases and more importantly, to respect the man that inspired it all.

Every Christmas, Jack would play in an annual shinny hockey game with his son and close friends. After Jack’s passing, the abrupt loss that was felt, prompted close family friends, Dan McNamara and Dave Jenkinson to propose a new tradition to his son, Jeff Lane. The idea being to turn the annual shinny game that meant so much to Jack, into something bigger. After some brainstorming over a couple of beers, and many laughs, the trio decided that a great way to keep his memory alive was to focus on two key points, having fun and helping others who need it. Jack knew how to turn a good time great and so that would be the best way to honor someone who had such a profound effect on their lives. From there, Jack’s Memorial Cup was born.

Jack believed in the balance of a “work hard and play hard” lifestyle and loved having fun and helping others in need. He enjoyed spending time with his family and the great outdoors, good music, hunting, baseball, fishing, hockey and golfing. He was a Partner, Father, Grandfather, Uncle, Brother, Colleague and Friend to all.  Tough when he had to be but soft when it mattered most. Everyone knew how big of a heart he had. His greatest joy was seeing others happy and there wasn’t anything more magical to him than seeing the pure joy of a child having fun.

It wasn’t a surprise to see Jack keeping up with the best of them whether it was shot gunning a beer or doing the legendary gainer backflips into a pool. Age didn’t matter to him, life and living well did.

The JMC allows for us to do something Jack loved and appreciated; getting good people together to have fun with the goal of accomplishing something bigger and better in the world for those in need so that they too can have fun. And, in doing that, we know that Jack’s memory will always live on.