The Chief - An Ode To My Grandfather

My Grandpa was affectionately known as "The Chief" , mainly because he had a quiet but firm air of authority about him and whatever job he took on he usually rose to the top and was running the show before long . 

On the day of his funeral I remembered the Scottish Clan crest pin that was given to me by my mom and that I wore on my wedding day.It symbolizes my Scottish heritage through my grandpa whose parents were both Scottish.  I turned the velvet pin holder over and read:

"In ancient times, a Chief wore in battle a badge on his helmet, a device which his followers could recognize in the turmoil of action. This is known as the CREST OF THE CHIEF and appears on the top of his full coat of arms. Anyone bearing the same name as a Scottish chief is a clansmen of the chief and has the privilege of wearing his crest..."

Thank you Grandpa for being the chief of our clan. Its an honour to wear your crest.

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Wilford Fraser Wilson

June 25, 1927 – January 5, 2011

On January 5th of this new year, Wilf Wilson, known lovingly and respectfully as “The Chief”,  passed away peacefully in Armstrong, BC, in the company of his loving family. 

Wilf, who also answered to “Will” and even sometimes “Willy” was born June 25, 1927 in Liberty, Saskatchewan. His father, John Wilson, was a Scottish immigrant who met his bride , Isabelle Fraser, in Nova Scotia.

Wilf was the fourth of 7 children and if you ever met his brother Frank you’d swear it was Wilf only 2 feet shorter! He grew up on a Saskatchewan farm during the Great Depression and life was no easy task. He had never been given a birthday party until he was 21 when his wife, Margaret, threw the very first of many more birthday parties to come.

Around age 11, Wilf and family moved west to Vancouver, driving a Model A Ford over the Rockies. His first job in Vancouver was at the Panorama Roof Restaurant. He lived far away and so he visited the local dump and found the parts he needed to construct a bicycle. He had a major hand in keeping his family fed even at this early age.

Wilf’s mother wanted her boys to learn a trade and so with this in mind, he began to learn carpentry and thus started an amazing career and a legacy of many buildings built.

 He helped restore the historical town of Barkerville. When he was working on the Wake-Up Jakes Saloon there, he had a blacksmith form square-headed nails just to make sure everything was authentic!  He built the largest saw mill at the time in La Pas , Manitoba and it was there that he saved a man’s life at great risk to his own and was recognized by the province of Manitoba.

Wilf either built or had a hand in building many buildings across BC including their first home in Valemount, a brick-faced house in Cranberry Place. He later built his second Valemount home on 14th Ave where he was surrounded by his family as most of them lived next door on either side of him. He had a habit of building a deck and then deciding to slap four walls and a roof up and make it an addition – then he would say “Well, we don’t have a deck, I better build one” and on it went. 

He was the Building Inspector for Valemount for a time and was involved in the building of many landmarks such as the Village Office ( which also housed the firehouse at the time), the medical Clinic, and he even had a hand in building the Dunster Community Hall.

Wilf also worked on the rigs in the Beaufort Sea, on the W.A.C. Bennett Dam and built a house for the Karas family in Greece.  He was known for his love of animals, his shop on Commercial Drive and his never ending generosity to his fellow man.

Above all of these things though, Wilf built a family. He leaves behind his loving wife, Marg, oldest daughter Debra ( Cliff) Harder, son Dean (Glenda) Wilson and daughter Dayle (Ebert) Erickson. He had 7 grandchildren: Joseph, Benjamin, Kathleen, Meagan, Jennine, Alyson and Darlene. He also has 6 great-grandchildren and another on the way. All of these people are mentioned because they were profoundly affected by Wilf and they dearly loved and respected him.

Wilf was a man of few words but near the end of his life he told his family that he had always known that Jesus Christ had died on the cross but now he knew" why". He didn’t expand on this thought too much but we know from Scripture that “… God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. Love and Justice met at the cross and a way was made back Home. As a family of faith we are resting in the assurance that through the grace of Jesus Christ our Husband, Father, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather has gone before us “ To a home on God's celestial shore”.