Jay Pettigrew Millwright/Machinist Memorial Scholarship
At 21 years of age and playing in his last year of junior hockey for the Trail Smoke Eaters, Jay decided that it was time to get serious about preparing for a lifelong career.
Jay was very interested in mechanics and machinery, and after some serious considerations of what would be a career that would be enjoyable, well-paying and set the foundation for a fulfilling lifelong career, he decided to attend Selkirk College and enrolled in the Millwright/ Machinist Pre-Apprenticeship program.
Jay attended the Millwright/Machinist program in Nelson and was a very dedicated student, completing the program with extremely high standards. With his personality, he established himself as one of the leaders among the students in the program. Jay also very much enjoyed all of the College campus student life activities.After Jay graduated from the Pre-Apprenticeship Program in Nelson, he was successful in moving on to a Millwright Co-Op Apprenticeship program at Northwest Community College in Terrace. Jay excelled in the program both academically and socially, and upon completion, he was indentured as a Millwright Apprentice in the mining industry in Williams Lake.
Jay very much enjoyed being a Millwright Apprentice working in the mine at Williams Lake, and after the mine shut down, he became employed at the sawmill, where he finished his apprenticeship and became a certified Red Seal Millwright. Jay was a very socially active member in the workforce and community and made many lifelong friends in Williams Lake.
After several years working as a Millwright in Williams Lake, an opportunity arose that would see Jay and his family move to Creston, where he was successful in acquiring a position as a Millwright at the Columbia Brewery. Here, Jay worked for the remainder of his career, where he made many friends and became socially intertwined within the community of Creston.
Jay unexpectedly passed away at the age of 56 years old.
Impact
As you can see, Jay chose a career that served him and his family a lifetime of satisfaction and security while at the same time allowing him to work in many communities throughout the Province of BC, where he has left a legacy of being a great participant within all the communities in which he lived. This scholarship is a heartfelt tribute to Jay’s memory, created with the hope of providing a helping hand to the next generation of millwrights. We believe it will help guide them as they navigate their paths in life, carrying forward the legacy of someone who cared deeply about their future.