Jack Downey

Studebaker Canada employee 1947 to 1966

By Peter Downey

My Dad was born in Toronto June 15, 1915. During the WWII he worked at the DeHavilland Aircraft plant in Toronto, installing instrument panels into Mosquito bombers. About a year after the war ended his job at DeHavilland did as well. He moved to Hamilton in 1946 working in the office at Firth Brothers tailors, a job I recall him telling me was uninteresting, he was used to using his hands and mind at work. In 1947 he was hired on at the Studebaker Canada plant in Hamilton Ontario.

Dad loved cars, and really loved working at Studebaker, he often told me the guys there were like family, and the cars were high quality, built with pride. He worked in the plant in various parts of the assembly line, from installing instruments, to headliners, to windshields, his favourite was his time in what I recall he referred to as doll up and repair, where the cars went after assembly to fix up any little thing that was not up to snuff. There he performed multiple tasks in the process. His final role was as stock clerk. That’s the department he was in when the closure was announced on March 17, 1966.

Dad stayed on at the plant until early June, as part of the skeleton crew that was left organizing the parts etc and winding down the operation. After his last day at Studebaker he said he would never work with a better group of employees again. He then went to Ford in Oakville, on the line, and lasted there about 3 weeks. The cars he said were so poorly built in comparison to the Studebakers he just could not work there. He went back to De Havilland for 3 or 4 years and then to Inglis, at their new operation in Stoney Creek, where he worked in the office as a buyer. Dad died February 15, 1973.

He passed on to me his love of Studebakers, and the first memory I have of any car was his 1950 2 door Champion. As I grew up I dreamt of one day having my own 1950 Studebaker Champion, built in Hamilton, to honour his memory and fulfill my dream. In September 2009 I was fortunate enough to find my 1950 Stude, and am now the proud owner of my own 1950 Studebaker Champion, built in Hamilton. The circle has been completed.