Jack Sangster, who is probably almost as well known in Thompson as his father Red, has retired after a long and successful career as a financial advisor with Sun Life Financial in Thompson.
Sangster, who grew up in Thompson, was living in Brandon, Man. and working as a coach for the Brandon Wheat Kings hockey team when one of the team's board members suggested a career in the insurance business to him. Sangster followed up with the interest the board member showed in his potential and met further with her, which later led him to meet a manager at Manulife Financial. He was given a free ticket to travel to Banff, Alberta where he went the following fall to take classes.
"I went there, I went to the classes and it was all Greek to me, but I met some really good guys that told me about the insurance and finance business," Sangster explains. After he got back from the trip he was put in touch with a Mutual Life company and started working for them in Winnipeg.
But it wasn't too long that Sangster was working in the big city that he found himself back home in Thompson.
"It was funny," he remembers. "I didn't know a lot of people in Winnipeg, and I didn't have a lot of clients there. So my boss said, 'Jack, you know everybody in Thompson - why wouldn't you go up there and see what kind of business you can get?''
Following his boss' advice, Sangster drove up to Thompson and stayed with his parents for a few days. During the span of four or five days he managed to write around 15 insurance policies. He later met with Jim McIvor, who was a financial advisor in Thompson, who suggested Sangster make a permanent move to his home city.
"When I first got into the business in Winnipeg, I was down there and there were some really good people that helped me get into it. Then when I came up to Thompson it seemed like everybody was willing to help each other and I think that was very helpful - everybody in the office had a degree of expertise for different things, and nobody ever turned me down, nobody ever turned anyone else down. We were just a big happy family, and I think that's what I really, really enjoyed about it."
While in Thompson Sangster also had the opportunity to schedule many more appointments with people than he could in Winnipeg due to the short amount of time it takes to get from one point to the other in Thompson.
Sangster saw the company go through many changes - from Mutual Life to Clarica and eventually to Sun Life Financial. He says the most valuable part of his job was his interactions with people.
"I love talking to people, and it was always great to make a nice sale, but meeting the people in different communities was one of the highlights, and meeting people from head office who came up here. There was always something new," he enthuses.
Cory Murdy, a financial advisor at Sun Life that has worked with Sangster for many years, says the experience and energy he brought to the table is now sorely missed at the business. Financial Centre manager James Crouch says Sangster was instrumental in helping him settle into life in Thompson when he first moved from England last year.
"One of the things I kind of warmed to about Jack was just his willingness to help. I picked up a pretty established team in Thompson when I came to take on the job," he explains. "But nothing was too much trouble for Jack when it came to taking time out to make my job really easy."
Crouch adds Sangster's repertoire and good relationships with many people in the community really stood out - as well as his ability to lighten the mood with a funny joke or anecdote.
"He tells a funny story, which is always good when you're running a team of people. And he's told me things about Thompson that I'd never know if I lived here another 30 or 40 years."
Sangster says that although he's officially retired, by no means is he slowing down. He's been very busy keeping fit by exercising at the walking track at the Thompson Regional Community Centre and also lifts weights twice a week. He says once he's more settled in his retirement he wants to do things like golf, fish and find something that suits him to keep him busy.
And no doubt he will be busy - Sangster is not only well known in the professional world but also on a community level. He was an assistant coach with the Norman Northstars during the 2007-2008 season and previously served as the team's head coach. He also spent five seasons as a coach in the Western Hockey League (the Wheat Kings being one of the teams he coached). Before that Sangster coached the Taber Golden Suns of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and the Thompson King Miners and Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Sangster's best season as a coach was when he was with the Regina Pats in 1980 and 1981, when he guided the team to a 49-21-2 record, with future NHL player Garth Butcher on the roster. The Pats lost a six-game series to the Calgary Wranglers in the Western Hockey League's Eastern Division playoff final that season.
Sangster has also been active as a baseball coach in Thompson and was a player on the 1968-73 Thompson Reds senior men's baseball team, which was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in the special teams and groups category in 2003.
-With files from Ian Graham
