Low Down Articles
Valley Lives
Article 132 of 146
This article first appeared in the "Valley Lives" column in the August 9, 2023 issue of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News.
Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.
o o o
John Urban
Brennan's Hill jeweller remembered as 'a rare gem'
Remembering John Urban, sculptor, poet, dog-lover, friend
By Madeline Kerr
If a man's friendships are truly the best measure of his worth, as the saying goes, then John Urban was worth his weight in gold.
The renowned jeweller, who died peacefully at his home in Brennan's Hill on July 1 at the age of 78, was cared for by his dear friend and neighbour, David Steele. Steele and his nephew, Colt Schippers, moved in with Urban to care for him around the clock, as he battled prostate cancer.
Steele describes his friend as a "private man...a very mysterious man in some ways," adding that he was deeply intelligent, generous, creative, and kind.
Urban, who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, is best known in the community for his intricate celtic jewellery, including his one-of-a-kind wedding bands, which he had been crafting for nearly 50 years.
His love of working with his hands came from his father. He was so skilled with his hands, in fact, that his family insisted he should become a surgeon.
He first completed a premed program and then decided, "that was not how I was meant to express this ability. I changed direction, and tried photography, pottery, and then sculpture," states his business' webpage.
In the 1970s, while living in Montreal, Urban spent two years completing a sculpture that he referred to even much later in life as his "best work." Last year, the Low Down interviewed John about the 165 pound, two-footlong, greased soapstone sculpture, which he enigmatically called "What I Always Wanted". Shaped like a meteorite, it's truly out of this world.
Steele says that it was his friend's deepest wish to see this sculpture find the home that he felt it deserved - ideally in the National Gallery of Canada or the Museum of Canadian History.
A mishap during the winter of 1972 shifted his focus from soapstone to silver. Urban wrote on his website that, when the engine block of his pickup split during a bitter cold spell, he was forced to stop hauling heavy materials. He asked himself, "What can I make that's small and sculptural, that I can create from materials I already have?" From there, his career as a jeweller was born.
Urban was prolific, and crafted innumerable pieces of ornate designs. He worked tirelessly until nearly the end of his life, according to Steele.
Jewellery might have been what he was best known for, but it was far from his only passion. From the age of six, Urban collected moths and butterflies, amassing a collection of hundreds of winged insects. He wanted to preserve rare and endangered species in particular, telling the Low Down in 2021, "My collection represents a world that no longer exists."
Urban was also a keen poet. Between the ages of 25 and 35, what he called "a period of great yearnings," he wrote a number of poems, many about love and longing. He later recorded himself reading the poems over music.
He loved nature, and moved to Brennan's Hill in 1991 to live closer to it, according to Steele. Urban also loved Chinese food, especially if it was spicy; listening to the radio; and volunteering in the community, including at the Wakefield Library. But perhaps, above all else, says Steele, he loved his dogs.
A former breeder of Australian shepherds, Urban had two dogs at the end of his life that Steele says were family to him. Steele, along with his nephew, will care for the dogs for the rest of their lives, which is what his friend John had wanted.
"He's still with me," says Steele.
A celebration of life was held at McGarry Memorial Chapel in Wakefield on July 16. Friends and family members gathered to share memories. Urban is survived by his brother, Roger, who lives in Tennessee, and his sister, Diane, who lives in New York state.
Joan Garnett, who attended the celebration, had known John Urban for years after he altered one of her pieces of jewellery, and she says she remembers him fondly.
"We'll miss John," she says, adding that he was "a rare gem of a jeweller with so many talents."