The gift of an unspoken experience

Originally from Denmark, Jorgen Vibe (Jack) Christensen was held at a prison camp in Japan during World War II. He was released in 1945 and rarely spoke of that time, but the experience stayed with him.

In 2010, Jack passed away peacefully at age 92. He left a generous gift in his will to support an endowed scholarship at SFU for graduate students in history or archaeology. 

Life intersects in strange ways - Jack's bequest provided financial help to SFU student, Sarah Beaulieu, who was researching a prison camp in Morrissey, B.C. that housed 8,579 Austo-Hungarian and German prisoners during WWI.

Though he'd already passed away, Sarah wrote a letter expressing her gratitude for the support. That was in 2014. Deeply passionate about studying this painful chapter in our history, Sarah has now completed her Master's and is currently working on her Ph.D.

With Jack's scholarship, she's been able to keep up with her research while also juggling parenthood. In her letter she writes, "One thousand thank yous for this opportunity!"