MAPLETON – This township’s Senior of the Year has been “an avid contributor” to the local community for over 45 years, says Mayor Gregg Davidson.
“When I think of someone that embodies the spirit of, and values of, and selfless commitment to, the community … I think of you,” Mayor Gregg Davidson said as he presented Alma resident Jacobus (Jim) de Bock with the award at the June 13 council meeting.
De Bock was the township’s nominee for a 2023 Ontario Senior of the Year Award.
The provincial program provides each municipality in Ontario the opportunity to honour one outstanding local citizen who, after the age of 65, “has enriched the social, cultural or civic life of his or her community.”
Davidson noted de Bock moved to the community in 1978 and “has been an avid contributor ever since.
“There’s not enough time or words to speak to his community service these past 45 plus years,” the mayor stated.
As an Alma Optimist Club member de Bock has been “an integral part of seeing many amazing projects come to light,” Davidson pointed out.
“Coach Jim, as he’s lovingly known, has been coaching T-ball every Wednesday in Alma for over 40 years.
“And adults who were once T-ballers, well he’s taught them, he’s taught their kids and he’s taught the grandkids, so he’s got a few generations of T-ball under his belt and he’s still doing it.”
A teacher for 36 years, “Jim has been a mentor to children for much of his adult life,” said Davidson.
“When there was a need for a school crossing guard Jim stepped up.
“And if you are going by Alma Public School on Mondays, you’ll see Jim … He’s always there telling a story and, even more so, listens to the children and hears their stories.”
Davidson said de bock “always has time to chat with anyone about anything.
“He’s a caring and compassionate individual who’s always a listening ear for advice … and who embodies all there is about being a wonderful human being.”
The Senior of the Year award is not the first recognition de Bock has received for his community service work.
In 2017 he received the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship.
Over the past four decades, de Bock’s long list of local volunteer efforts – a majority facilitated through the Optimist Club – have included: Breakfast on the Farm, the local swim program, Winterfest, Tin Can Curling, T-ball, bike rodeo, Plunger Plop, DARE program, Roadkill Race, beef barbecue, rink building and Alma Environmental Fair.
A past recipient of the local Optimist of the Year award, de Bock was nominated in 2016 for the province’s June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Voluntarism.
He has also been recognized with the Ontario Volunteer Service Award for his efforts with the Waterloo-Wellington Science and Engineering Fair.
Asked in a June 14 telephone interview about his passion for helping others, de Bock said he struggles to “put myself in a box and say, ‘This is who I am.’
“If you look at my face it looks like the wind, it looks like the sea, it looks like the forest. That’s who I am actually.”
Using a river as a metaphor, de Bock described how the passage of time helps mold each individuals’ identity.
“As you’re crossing that river, that’s your journey – that your life’s journey. And you start out on the edges, it’s fairly shallow … But then as you progress across that river, and you always have to move forward, now each stone then becomes like your footprint.
“And you tend to learn more as you develop into adolescence, your stones are further apart, and they’re random, and you don’t exactly know how it will turn out within yourself, but you can probably find the best way.”
De Bock continued, “Eventually you say, ‘You know, this is a lot of fun and I’m really enjoying what I’m doing.’
“And so you progress further and further into the river, there’s an inkling of wisdom, but I think the key component is you’re going to develop a sense of compassion for people.”
He concluded, ““It’s all about learning and understanding. And this is the journey I’m on. I was given this journey.
“People have given me a lot and I’d like to give it back.”
