Jack Allan Gilbert B.A., D.Jur., LL.M., Q.C., SCA

September 1, 1927 – October 16, 2026

November 6, 2026

Dear Fellow Members,

The Society of Canadian Artists is deeply saddened to share the passing of Jack Gilbert, who died peacefully at home on October 16, 2026, at the age of 99. Jack was the beloved husband of SCA co-founder and past president Ina Gilbert, and an honoured member of our Society in his own right. With his passing, we say goodbye to our last living link to the generation that brought the SCA into being.

Jack grew up surrounded by photography. His father, Nathan, opened Elite photography studio on Queen Street West in 1922. His brother Lou was a gifted retoucher, and his brother Albert became one of Canada’s best-known portrait photographers. Jack first hoped to become a doctor, but the quotas of the day closed that door. He turned to law instead and became a highly respected corporate, business and securities lawyer. He never set the camera down, though. In his seventies he began studying Photoshop, and he kept at it for about two hours a day, well into his nineties. He sold his photographs and gave the proceeds to charities close to his heart.

Jack and Ina met at Camp Ogama in Huntsville in the late 1940s. He had been hired to run photography for the campers, but that job ended when the building meant to be the darkroom burned down. He liked to say, “That was the end of my camp photo career.” They married in 1951 and shared more than seventy years together. All three of their daughters became artists. Throughout those years, Jack quietly supported Ina’s work. That included 1967, when she led the Society of Co-operative Artists to become the Society of Canadian Artists and gave it the national mandate it still carries today.

After Ina died in 2023, Jack honoured her in ways that will outlast them both. He created the Ina & Jack Gilbert Impact Fund at the Baycrest Foundation to support Alzheimer’s research and care. He also set up visual arts awards through the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto Foundation in the names of Ina and their daughter Deborah. “The arts colour the world,” he once said. He gave it to them because, in his own words, “I just want to do it.”

Jack stayed vital and sharp until his last day. When asked what kept him going, he smiled and said, “Well, I just get up every morning and don’t let the old man in.”

He is survived by his daughters, Cindy Friedlander (Rick) and Tracey Gilbert Monette (Mike), his granddaughters Jessica, Lilly and Taylor, and his extended family. He was predeceased by Ina and by their daughter Deborah.

On behalf of the Board and members of the Society of Canadian Artists, we send our heartfelt condolences to the Gilbert family. We are grateful for everything Jack and Ina gave to Canadian art, and to this Society.

Donations in Jack’s memory may be made to the Ina and Jack Gilbert Impact Fund at the Baycrest Foundation (baycrestfoundation.org/donate, 416-785-2875), to fund Alzheimer’s Matters, or to the charity of your choice.

Respectfully,

Nancy Jean Overbury, SCA
President

 

Sources: Legacy Obituaries
Arts & Letters Club: Donor Profile
Jack Gilbert Creative Photography

 

Photo by Al Gilbert C.M., F.R.P.S.