SAC 1928-1934
Cadet Commanding Officer 1933-1934
Lieutenant
(N) John Draper Perrin or "Jack"
as he was commonly known,
was born on March 27, 1915 in Winnipeg, Manitoba,
the son of John Draper Perrin Sr. and Ruth Taylor
Litle. He attended St. Andrew’s from
1928-34. He played on First Hockey for four of those years and served as the
Cadet Commanding Officer in his final year.
After graduation he studied mining engineering at
the Universities of Manitoba and McGill.
He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
He played varsity hockey for both the U of M Bisons and the McGill Redmen,
developing a reputation as a rushing (and goal-scoring) defenceman. Published
sports stories often referred to him as "Mighty Perrin".
He
served in the Royal Navy during WWII on British destroyers HMS Holderness and
HMS Termagant (pictured at left). He saw action in the North Atlantic, the North Sea and the
Mediterranean. He ship took part in the invasions of Sicily and Italy and he
was among a group of Allied officers granted the first Allied forces audience
with the Pope following the liberation of Rome.
He took his Royal Navy basic training as an
Ordinary Seaman in England at HMS Raleigh, which made him a "Canadian Raleighite" along with notables such as the late Hon. John P. Robarts, former
Premier of Ontario. At war's end in 1945 he was discharged with the rank of
Lieutenant (RCNVR).
After the war for a time he pursued an acting
career in London, England where he appeared in stage productions in the West
End and in a couple of movies, performed as a club singer with the Sid Lipton
Band, and hosted a late night BBC radio program. Interestingly, he lived in a
London flat with neighbours Lawrence Olivier and Vivian Leigh (who were
living together at the time). The individual who suggested he pursue a show
business career was a navy buddy, Robert Newton, later famous in the TV role
of pirate "Long John" Silver.
Back in Winnipeg in 1948, he was elected a
director of the San Antonio Gold Mines Limited (of which his father was
President), established in 1955 (with his father) the Winnipeg Warriors Hockey
Club of the old Western Hockey League and a junior club, the Winnipeg Braves.
The Warriors were national minor-professional Champions in 1955-56 and the
Braves are to this day the last Winnipeg-based junior club to have won the
Memorial Cup (in 1958 -1959).
In 1979 his family company purchased The Fort
Garry Hotel in Winnipeg over which he presided until 1987. Jack married Nancy
Suzanne McKay of Winnipeg in 1949 and together they had three children, John Draper
III, Suzanne Ruth and Marshall McKay, and four grandchildren. He died
November 19, 1992.
