With deep sadness we announce the passing of Herbert Miles Jenkins, on September 5, 2020, in his 97th year. He is survived by his loving wife and best friend of more than 73 years, Adair (McEathron), his children Glen (Maria), Lauren, Phil (Aline), grandchildren Caroline, Alec, Andrew, Claire, Leah, Martha, and great-grandchildren Alina, Charlie, and Carter. Herb was born in New York City in 1924, and like many of his generation, his family was greatly affected by the Great Depression and World War II. Herb joined the US Air Force during the war and became a navigator and bombardier. While stationed in Victorville, California, he met and fell and love with Adair. They were married in 1947. After the war, Herb's calling to academic studies led him to a BA in Psychology from Oberlin College in Ohio, and a PhD from Harvard University. He had teaching assignments at Harvard, M.I.T., and worked for Bell Labs in New Jersey. In 1963 he loaded the family into a VW bus and moved to Canada, accepting a job as professor at McMaster University in the Psychology department. His numerous publications in Behavioural Psychology are still cited today. He became Chair of the department in 1972. During sabbatical years he taught at the University of Sussex in England, and at Princeton University in New Jersey, USA. In the early '80s, Herb founded, and enjoyed immensely his time as Director of, the Arts and Science Baccalaureate Program at McMaster. In 1991 he became the Director of the Engineering and Society Program in the Faculty of Engineering. He won the President's Award for Curriculum and Course Design in 1996 and received an honorary degree from McMaster in 2009. Together Herb and Adair travelled the world by air, train, bus, ship, sailboat, canoe, VW bus, Ford van, tent, trailer. They built a cottage themselves, on an uninhabited island near Pte au Baril, Ontario, on Georgian Bay. The finished product of that work of craftsmanship is a legacy to the Jenkins family, friends and loved ones. Thank you Herb, Dad, Grampy, and great-Grampy for the life you have lived and all of the lives you have touched. We will miss you terribly; your generosity, your brilliance, your humour, the five o'clock martinis, the jazz, the bongo-playing, and the wink. We love you. The Jenkins family would like to thank sincerely the staff at the Wentworth Heights retirement residence in Hamilton for their wonderful care. A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Published in The Hamilton Spectator on Sep. 12, 2020.