Legacy
In October 2012, Wilson died following a sudden illness which took his family, the city and many former students off guard.
With a new school being built in Medicine Hat, there was little doubt as to what to name the new institution.
“It was emotional to find out his name had been chosen for the school,” said Colleen Wilson, Roy’s wife.
“It was such an honour and I know he would feel it was an honour, as quiet and humble as he was.”
Colleen said Roy touched the lives of thousands of students during his three decades as part of the teachers’ education program at Medicine Hat College.
“I’m still hearing from them because he really had an amazing program there,” said Colleen.
He was also a SD 76 public school trustee for 32 years right up to his death in 2012.
“So when you look at what he has given, at the grass-roots level for teachers, and then you look at how he was successful as a trustee, making sure the programs were appropriate to students and the curriculum, assistance for teachers and kids. . .He was really innovative in a quiet way,” said Colleen.
“He gave his whole life to that.” The couple’s eldest child of five, Craig,
said there were few pictures of his father without an open book in the frame.
Craig said despite his father’s position as a teacher, he was a life-long learner.
“He was always learning,” he said.
“As much as he imparted, it was his quest for life and learning that is his legacy to me. That’s to me what made him remarkable.”
And it is that search for knowledge which he handed down to future generations, he added.
“My dad’s legacy is the lives he touched as an educator and as a person,” said Craig.
“The school (naming) is a magnificent, wonderful thing SD 76 has done honouring his legacy but his legacy is really in the people, students he taught, what he taught them — how to be educators.”
Craig recalled that his father would often take his children on “experiences” growing up.
“Those experiences could be as simple as a walk in a coulee or a ride down a path or a trip to a playground. He made them exciting. There was always something to learn and love along the way,” he said.
“He created in us this sense of experience and wanting to experience life. . .creating learners in all of us and also his students through the years.”
Natalie Oliphant, George Davison grades 1 and 2 teacher, said it was after speaking with Wilson that she decided to become an educator while attending Medicine Hat College.
“He made me feel so welcome and he was so positive and he said if you’d like to be in education, we have lots of room, we would be more than happy to have you in the program,” said Oliphant.
“It was such a golden opportunity.”
She said Wilson taught her and everyone who went through the MHC education program how to do, “everything you could imagine beyond standing in a room in front of a group of students.
“He taught us how to be professional, about looking at the whole child, how to speak to parents — he was my mentor and he became my friend. I have never had someone so positive in my life. He made the difference in my life that put me on the road to being a teacher.”
Oliphant said Wilson had expectations of his students being quality educators yet always reinforced that expectation with kindness.
“He was one of the most genuine men our communities ❚ our region ❚ our people 101
Roy Wilson, seated wearing a jacket and tie, chats with some of his students at Camrose Lutheran College in 1971.
of Roy Wilson lives on
I have ever met. He was such a gentleman and is sorely missed by so many people.”
The Dr. Roy Wilson Learning Centre will open in the fall of 2014, solidifying his Medicine Hat legacy as a city builder to be honoured with the name of a school, following in the footsteps of Reverend James Herald, Webster Niblock, George Davison and Monsignor Edmund McCoy. ■
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