Ronald Jacob – creating "rich” life after retirementRonald Jacob was born in Gravelbourg, SK to parents who had moved from Austria. Ron and his wife Colleen and 2 of their 5 boys decided to move to Langenburg in 1964. Ron tried to work in the potash mine for a year, but in 1965 he decided he would be happier to pursue his father’s passion for construction and opened a well known construction company in Langenburg "Jacob’s Construction & Masonry Ltd”. "My first building was ‘Toronto Dominion Bank’ in Langenburg. After that I built 7 homes in a row in Esterhazy. That was a good start” – remembers Ron. Later, the business was passed on to the oldest son Allan and in 2004 Ron officially retired.
"When I retired, I couldn’t stop working. I still wanted to build something; I couldn’t sit still. So, I decided to start building toys” – says Ron. He bought "Toys & Joys” magazine and tried to make his first wooden toy – a Fire Ranger truck. It turned out very nice. He keeps it as memory.
Over the last years he has made over 50 different machines, cars, trains, lift forks, combines, heavy duty machinery and even jewelry box. His next project - helicopter. "It takes me 2 – 4 weeks to make one car, sometimes months and lots of patience” – says Ron. His wife Colleen laughs that sometimes neighbours tell her that they see him at 6:00 in the morning building his new toy vision. "He wanted to take over my garage, but I put my foot down”- laughs Colleen. The beautiful and very detailed toys are made from birch, maple and walnut wood. They all have lots of moving parts and no nails or screws. Honestly - they are amazing! All his 11 grandchildren are so happy to have such an amazing grandfather who has already made one special wooden toy for each of them!
"The first step to a thriving retirement is to begin by asking yourself what it is you want to be doing." Chris Farrell