Wider Horizons

Jacobsons with their carOne look at this 1966 Pontiac Parisienne convertible, one of the most recent and unusual gifts to Lethbridge College, and you’re hooked. From its made-only-in-Canada origins to the beloved woman who drove it around town, the car offers no shortage of stories. Ronald A. Jacobson, now a retired Provincial Court Judge with a long association with the college, and his son John, vicechair of the Lethbridge College Board of Governors, took a few minutes this fall to tell Wider Horizons about the Pontiac and their decision to donate it to the college.

Wider Horizons: This is a beautiful car – it seems to have all the sleek styling and best design aspects of the 1960’s. We understand from the appraisers that GM started hiring women in the 50’s to design the interior features, the textures, the trim, the shaping of seats, door handles, armrests and steering wheels. This car is close to the millionth Pontiac that rolled off the line in Canada. How did it end up in your garage?

Ron Jacobson: As you know, we had a real tragedy in our family. My first wife, Sonja, and our two youngest children, Jill and Ronald, died in a terrible house fire in 1981. This was Sonja’s car. She had seen it at Enerson Motors and that was it. It became her car!

John Jacobson: She drove it every day of the year – during snowstorms when it was 30 below, with a bunch of boys in the back on the way to hockey, up to the cottage and down to Kalispell and Whitefish. She drove it everywhere.

WH: What are you hoping the college does with it?

RJ: It’s up to the Board of Governors and administration to decide. They could auction it off to support the new Trades building, or keep it on hand to use in parades. We are leaving it wide open for them to determine the best opportunity.

WH: Has it been in a lot of parades?

RJ: Yes it has! One of the memorable times involved Les Talbot, a former college president. He took the car in a Whoop Up Days parade one year. He reached Fifth Street when the engine overheated – they had to push the car to the side and the parade had to go around them.

WH: Ron, you and your wife Mariette have been long-time supporters of the college. You were one of the founding members of the College’s first Foundation Board, and Jacobson Memorials gave the Kodiak bear that sits at the entrance of the gymnasium in memory and honour of Sonja and your two younger children. John, you and your wife Debi are also long-time college supporters, and you work for Galko Homes, which donated one of the first homes to be sold in the College Home initiative to support the new Trades building. What made you two decide to make this particular gift to the college?

RJ: For a long time, we’ve stored the car in the winter with Del Allen of DA Electric – this convertible and Del were well suited for each other. I talked to Del about donating the car and we realized the college would have a real advantage in having it. He wholeheartedly supported having it come to the college. My wife Mariette has always been supportive of this donation.

WH: The convertible is now happily at home in a bay in the college’s automotive wing. Auto mechanic students are working on it, getting the chance to get their hands on a true classic… a chance they might not get again in their careers.

RJ: It’s not the first time I brought the car to the college. I brought it to the automotive department years ago for students to work on it too. It’s a real boat – it’s so heavy and has quite a different feel. It really is a beautiful car. It’s in good hands.

To see more photos of the car, visit widerhorizons.ca.

Wider Horizons
Lethbridge College
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