Jack Uppal remembered for service to community
Sikh pioneer and successful B. C. businessman Jagat ‘ Jack’ Singh Uppal is being remembered as “an amazing guy” who was a leader in the fight again racism in this province.
Uppal, who arrived in B. C. from Punjab as a baby in 1926, died May 4 at the age of 89.
Former attorney general Wally Oppal said Uppal was “self- educated” in English and Punjabi, studied the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, and loved to read poetry.
“He was a compassionate person. He helped so many people who really needed help — poor immigrants and refugees who came here,” said Oppal, who will deliver a eulogy at a memorial service for Uppal Sunday.
Oppal’s law firm represented Uppal’s Gold wood sawmill and the former judge- turned- politician saw all the people Uppal helped.
“I know the people he gave work to because he wanted to help them out,” Oppal said.
But what impressed Oppal most was the way Uppal spoke out against racism.
“He grew up here at a time when our people didn’t even have the right to vote,” Oppal said. “He wasn’t afraid of controversy where there was a principle at stake. He’s going to be missed.”
Uppal, a natural storyteller, recalled in several Vancouver Sun interviews early incidents of racism he endured.
His father Dalip Singh, who arrived here in 1907, couldn’t return to his wife in India for 18 years for fear of not being able to re- enter Canada. Dalip finally reunited with his wife and brought her and baby Jagat to Vancouver in 1926.
He was one of the first Sikh children to attend school in Vancouver and the other kids would throw chestnuts at his turban to try to knock it off.
“Racism was wide open and blunt, not subtle like it is now,” Uppal once said. “I remember the Palmal café on Hastings wouldn’t let us in. In the ’ 40s, I was visiting Duncan and couldn’t get a haircut.”
Uppal told the Sun about getting the call to fight in the Second World War even though he hadn’t yet won the right to vote in Canada, the country he was supposed to defend.
“I had to go to an army camp where Oakridge is. The community was objecting strenuously — saying, ‘ Why should you have to fight when you don’t have the right to vote?’ ”
He spoke out against the bigotry and worked with others to push for more rights for immigrant communities. They won the vote in 1947.
Uppal was very active in the Khalsa Diwan Society, the group that looks after the religious and social needs of the community. He was part of the society when it bought the land on Marine Drive, where Vancouver’s Ross Street temple now stands. In his later years, he often commented on how proud he was of the achievements of his community, with prominent members serving in both the provincial legislature and House of Commons.
Premier Christy Clark said in a statement Uppal “lived the quintessential Canadian story” through his own successes, but also because “he went out of his way to support others looking to build their lives in British Columbia.”
“He was recognized as a leader, receiving a British Columbia Community Achievement Award in 2010, and an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University in 2012,” she said.
The celebration of Uppal’s life will be held at Delta’s Riverside Funeral Home, 7410 Hopcott Rd., at 10 a. m. Sunday.