The Kiwanis Club of Nipissing has not been able to honour a citizen of the year since before the pandemic.
So this year, the organizers have selected two winners for both 2022 and 2023.
Gary Jodouin passed away in June of 2022 at the age of 73 and has been nominated posthumously as the 2022 North Bay Citizen of the Year. Nancy Jacko, who passed away in December of 2022 at the age of 70 was named posthumously as the 2023 North Bay Citizen of the Year.
Justin Wigelius, president of the Kiwanis Club of Nipissing, felt it was important to do it this way.
"We took the opportunity to honour both Nancy and Gary because they were both really involved in the healthcare field," said Wigelius.
"We have been on quite a hiatus because of COVID-19 as we were unable to celebrate any honourees so we really took the opportunity that was in front of us to be able to have them together because they were so interrelated into our Health Care in North Bay."
Carol Jodouin, Gary's widow, was on hand at the event held at Twigg's on McKeown Avenue in North Bay on Thursday.
"He was very simple in his approach to life," Carol said about Gary.
"He did not like a lot of fuss being made about things that he had accomplished but I think he would have been very proud that the community and the service club recognized his service within the North Bay area. He was into many diverse activities, he loved helping others whether it was through his healthcare connection through the hospital or whether it was through grooming trails out at the Nordic Club. He had quite a variety of interests so I think recognition of some of the things that he has done within the community would make him proud."
Gary Jodouin believed strongly in the importance of supporting essential health care in the area as demonstrated by his involvement with the Board of Directors of the Civic and North Bay General Hospitals, as well as the current North Bay Regional Health Centre Board since 2011.
Bill Jacko, Nancy's widower, says healthcare was part of Nancy's life and she loved the North Bay community.
"I think it just cements what she did and how proud she was of healthcare and what she contributed to healthcare within the healthcare system in North Bay and throughout Northern Ontario," said Bill.
"She was so proud of that hospital and the people that worked there, the physicians, and what it contributed to the community. So she would have been very honoured and very humbled as well."
See related: Champion of local health care, Nancy Jacko, passes away at 70
Nancy Jacko's notable professional accomplishments garnered her many impressive honours, including the Influential Women of Northern Ontario Award for the Public Sector in 2011. She was also recognized in 2019 by the Canadian College of Health Leaders of North Eastern Ontario as a Difference Maker in the field of healthcare.
Most recently Nancy received the Davedi Order of Merit for her outstanding contribution to the healthcare field in North Bay.
Nancy served as Chair of the Board of the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit until November 2022 and was a Governor of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University until her untimely passing.
Wigelius believes reflecting on the lives of these two local healthcare advocates will make for an emotional Citizen of the Year dinner this spring.
"It was a tougher decision because we like to try and give everybody the proper recognition that they deserve," said Wigelius about the posthumous awards.
"The fact we had not had one in a couple of years made it a little easier to combine them, also that fact that Gary and Nancy were so heavily involved in the healthcare field we felt there would be a good correlation between people who would attend."
The event is being held on April 27 at the Best Western in North Bay. For more information on the Citizen of the Year dinner go to www.kiwanisnipissing.ca
