Harry R.J. Home, who passed away at age 86-years-old on March 30, 2020, knew what he wanted to do with his life from the time he was five years old. 

Infatuated with steam engines since his father let him hop aboard one near his childhood home of Hanna, Alberta, Home was an icon of railroading in Jasper and beyond.

But Harry Home was much more than a railroader. He was a husband, a father, a favourite uncle and a grandfather. He was kind, loving, mischievous and determined. He was well-read and well-liked, a man who remembered names, nicknames, dates, train numbers and mile markers. He was tall and strapping and as strong as an ox. He was also tender and caring. He always introduced his wife, Edna, as “his bride.”

Harry Home went to Western University in London, Ontario, where he was head of the debating team, but his love affair with trains ran so deep and his passion shone so brightly that when he travelled through Hornpayne, Ontario at age 17 and struck up a conversation with the yardmaster, he was offered a job on the spot. But he was underage, and his father soon brought him back to western Canada. Home wouldn’t be deterred, however, and after spending his formative years in Kamloops, eventually signed on with the railroad in Boston Bar, B.C. His initial wage was 86 cents per hour.

Harry came to Jasper 68 years ago today (April 1, 1953), met his bride-to-be 14 years later and married her that same year (November 4, 1967). He loved his three children—Cameron, Tony and Lisa—equally, and until the end of his own life grieved for Tony and his grandson, Tyler, who left this earth too early. 

Harry inherited his generous concept of family from his parents, Win and Jack. His faith was very important to him.

Harry R.J. Home was honest and upfront and had a zest for life that others couldn’t help but find infectious. He was an eternal optimist—a quality perhaps encapsulated best by his restoration of the historic 6060 steam engine in the 1980s. Working around the clock to accomplish his goal, Harry rolled out of Jasper and into Vancouver station just in time for the 1986 Steam Exposition. Eventually, he saw both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans from the cab of his beloved engine.

Harry begrudgingly retired from CN after 49 years, on May 14, 1998, but remained eternally enthusiastic about railroad heritage. His dedication to this field earned him a ticket into the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in 2002.

Harry served as a past master of the Freemasons, the head of his local union, chairman of the board of local school trustees and sat on innumerable other community committees. He was a member of the Jasper Park Band and continued to play with the Kamloops-based Rube Band when they travelled in the area. 

One of Harry’s final gifts to the community was a ventilator for the Jasper Seton Healthcare Centre, donated through the Freemasons. It was ironic, then, that Harry’s death was recorded as the community’s first due to COVID-19. He contracted the virus when very little was known about the disease, shortly after giving an incredible eulogy in Kamloops for his good friend George Trojan. Harry’s grieving family agrees he deserves the same treatment and will do so when the time is right. 

His trademark engineer’s overalls and cap were well-known in the community, but to those who loved him, Harry wore many hats. He loved music, hockey, history and travel. Most of all, however, Harry R.J. Home loved his family. 

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com