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Every town has its shares of great people who come from it. Herbert is no different, with several individuals who have gone on to great things in their life. Often, the things they learned in places like Herbert made them the successful people they would be later in life. This is the case with Jack Wiebe.
Wiebe was born on May 31, 1936 in Herbert, Saskatchewan. He was the third generation to be born in the community, with his great-grandfather arriving in North America from Russia in 1874. His grandfather, John, came to Herbert in 1905 and would serve as the first mayor of the community when it became a town in 1912. His father, Herbert, lived in the town and would become the longest-serving mayor in the community’s history, serving from 1928 to 1954.
After his schooling in Herbert, Wiebe went on to the University of Saskatchewan where he founded a farming operation in Main Centre. He would become the president of L&W Feeders Ltd. From 1970 to 1984.
In 1971, he was first elected in as a Liberal to the Legislature for the Morse district. He would be elected again in 1975, and then choose to retire from politics in 1978.
In 1994, he would be given the honour of being chosen as the Lt. Governor of Saskatchewan, a post he would serve in until 2000.
He wasn’t done with politics at that point, because as soon as he was no longer the Lt. Governor of the province, Premier Jean Chretien chose him to serve in the senate, representing Saskatchewan. This was highly unusual, especially for a vice-regal representative to be put back into party politics so quickly.
Wiebe would serve as a senator until 2004 when he retired, seven years before the mandatory retirement age, for reasons related to family.
Even though he was retired and approaching 70, he wasn’t done helping the province he loved. He began to volunteer his time with the Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation, and would help to raise millions of dollars for the new hospital in Swift Current.
On April 16, 2007, he would pass away from lung cancer, but his impact on Saskatchewan lives on.
