Tributes

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the peaceful passing of Gerard (Gerry) WILKINSON, in his 87th year, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton on Friday, October 30, 2020. Gerry, recently pre-deceased by his wife of 61 years, Marjorie Wilkinson, loving father of Mark Wilkinson (Naomi) and Kathy McGuire (Patrick), cherished grandfather of Cailie McGuire, Riley McGuire and Taiya Wilkinson. Dear brother of Charles Wilkinson (Theresa), brother-in-law to David Crawford (Patricia) and pre-deceased by his sister, Marion Peters (Murray), also of Hamilton. Gerry was predeceased by his parents, Gerrard and Marie Wilkinson. He will be deeply missed by his many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, neighbours and employees with CHCH Television, where he had proudly worked for almost 40 years. Thoughts From The Family: From Mark: It is hard to believe that in what seems like a blink of an eye, someone who has always been there for you your whole life is suddenly gone. Whether it was a corny joke or a dry comment, my Dad could always make me feel better about what was going on in my life. For most of my life, it was hard to get a read on my Dad’s emotions because he kept most things to himself. It wasn’t until I was a young adult, and talked to my Mom, that I found out how proud he was of all my sporting accomplishments and my career in Prosthetics. The one thing I cherish from my Dad is our love for everything related to cars. At an early age, my Dad would shout out the year and make of a car driving by, or one parked nearby. To this day I can proudly do the same thing, all with a quick glance of any older model car - he taught me well. After I bought my Corvette in 95, my Dad thought it was so much fun to play with, so he bought a Mustang of his own a couple of years later. We spent many an hour talking about our “toys”, and how to perfect them – conversations we had right up until his recent passing. It will certainly be hard not to hear his voice on the phone anymore, checking in on me about the weather, what’s in the news, or the latest car projects. I guess it is true, you don’t know how much you love someone until they are gone. Rest in peace Dad, say hi to Mom for me, we miss you both more than you will ever know! Love always, your proud son, Mark. From Naomi: When I think of the words that describe my father-in-law, Gerry, I think of the words: strong, generous, loyal, and proud. Gerry was definitely the strong father-figure of the Wilkinson family, who was always willing to pay the bill for our family celebration meals, and who beamed great pride & happiness when we were all together celebrating birthdays or a special holiday. From the moment I met Gerry more than 25 years ago, I could feel the pride he had in both Mark & Kathy, and in his family’s cottage at Wasaga Beach. I was grateful to be included in the memories of the times at the Wilkinson cottage. Whether it was celebrating Gerry’s birthday over the cottage opening during the Victoria Day long weekend; or during the lazy summer days of summer, enjoying a ride with the top down in Gerry’s cherished Ford Mustang; or as Marge and I raked the fall leaves while Gerry & Mark closed the cottage for yet another season, I feel blessed to have so many cherished memories of these times at Wasaga Beach. On a more personal note, I am so grateful for his love of Taiya, and sadly, how he seamlessly stepped into the role of her only grandfather after I lost my dad in 2008. It is only now that Gerry has passed that I realize he had filled an emptiness in my heart after losing my dad 12 years ago, and I will miss that strong presence in my life. I felt honoured that Gerry would often look to me for advice and honest conversations about his and Marge’s health concerns, and I was grateful to be able to provide whatever assistance I could. Fathers are often these quiet and unassuming people in our lives – ones who are happy to stand on the sidelines to love and support their families from a distance. It is nonetheless such an important relationship, and I am so grateful to have had two loving fathers in my life. I will miss you greatly, Gerry. May you rest in peace. From Taiya: One word that best describes my GPa is: happy, and this is because he was always positive and told jokes to lighten the mood. I could always count on him to crack a bad “dad joke” of some kind. My favourite GPa memory is when I was going through my “magician phase”. GPa was always a great assistant or participant whenever I would perform my newly learned magic tricks. He always made me feel like I was a great magician and showed amazement with the latest trick I was learning to master. What I will miss most about GPa is his sense of humour and jokes (even the corny ones). From Kathy: Dad, When I think of you, I think of Wasaga Beach. It’s where you loved to be. We left at the crack of dawn to get up to the cottage. We spent our days jumping in the river, building sandcastles on the beach and on windy days riding the waves in the Bay. In the evenings we would walk to the main drag and eat candy covered peanuts, candy floss and watch people play bingo. It was all so much fun! I loved riding the big, beautiful merry- go- round and all the fun rides. When a little older I was lucky enough to bring my friends and we would stay in Number 4! We had the whole place to ourselves and we loved it! You were our wake-up call and would drop us off and pick us up after a full day in the sun at New Wasaga. Our own girls were also fortunate to enjoy summers with you there as well. Daily walks to get the paper, boat rides on the river and rides in the mustang were all things that they looked forward to doing with you. You cheered them on dancing to silly chants, ate ice cream way too late at night and told them made-up bedtime stories. And when Murphy came along, he quickly learned that you were the weak link, or at least you spilled the most food. He patiently sat beside you outside hoping you would share your bag of potato chips that you ate for lunch and inside the cottage he knew that corn on the cob kernels would be flying his way if he sat under your seat. As time moved on you stayed connected to us all by calling us all on our cell phones. You realized that you could call when we were anywhere. This was especially true when you would check to make sure we made it to our destinations. We would have to remind you that we were still on the road and it took a while to get to the Camp, UNB or Trent… you’d still call again, and we were still enroute. You were always checking in to make sure we were safe and of course to check out the weather. During our calls, Mom would be on the other line, and eventually you would call on with the phone on speaker so Mom could hear and most recently it was just you on the phone still silly and positive telling me that is was my “Beloved Father calling”, or “the Hammer calling” and you would fill me in on your day and I would let you about mine. Over the past few weeks the daily calls have stopped. Now it’s so noticeable that my phone doesn’t ring. It’s still so hard to believe. I take a breath, and I know that you still have a pulse on what is going on in our lives. You are watching with Mom by your side and lucky Murphy eating crumbs under your chair. Love you lots Dad. Thern From Cailie: Growing up, the Wasaga beach cottage was our second home and I am so grateful that I can reflect on the many cherished memories that were made with grandpa there. Stopping at Fred’s for hash-browns, doing our regular loop checking all of the phone booths for change, petting Bear and Micky at Jack’s, or going to the carnival rides. I will never forget your love for radishes, as we would make you lunch and pretend we were at a restaurant, always leaving some on the side. You introduced us to our love for cheese bread, hammock rides, the crocodile game, and bedtime stories about Roy the boy and Shirl the girl. Despite your interesting taste in “old music”, riding with you in your Mustang down the drag was such a carefree point in our lives that I remind myself often of. Nights spent at Grandpa and Grandma’s were nights Riley and I eagerly awaited. An endless supply of mini cupcakes and watching our then favourite TV show COPS—you could watch that for hours on end. They also remind me of the numerous Christmases, birthdays, and anniversaries spent in Hamilton. It will always be a place that reminds me of the wonderful family I was born into and the endless supply of love you and Gma had to offer. Near the end, I am so happy that I could spend as much time with you as possible. What I think I will miss the most is our weekly phone calls, as I am now realizing I no longer have anyone to call. You would remind us we could call you any time, whether it was late at night, me out walking, or using the Bluetooth in the new ride. I will miss hearing you say “Kingston Cailie” or “Same here!” as you hung up the phone. I could not have asked for a better grandpa, and I hope that you, Gma, and Murph are all looking down on us right now- cheese bread in one hand and a James Ready in the other. I love you so much- Cailie. From Riley Well Grandpa, here we are. It’s hard to say goodbye to another family member so close, but I guess you just couldn’t stay away from Grandma much longer. The thing I am going to miss the most about you are our phone calls. You used to call weekly to check in and find out what’s new- especially when I moved away to Peterborough. It was his little thing to call... Usually I’d just hear Grandma in the background shout hello, or for him to stop bugging me- but I always enjoyed our little chats. You always said you wanted a good laugh from “the kid”- so I always worked hard to fill you in- despite being in my 20s. It’s going to be hard not having those check-ins anymore- especially our birthdays- because we would get the special “happy birthday” call from you and Grandma harmonizing. And when we’d end our phone calls I’d always say “I love you” just so I could hear you say, “same here”- it was tradition??. I’m super thankful to have spent my summers with you at Wasaga. You started a tradition that cheese bread always had to be up at the cottage. When we would go on our weekly walks you’d always have us scout for coins in the sand. But only recently we discovered you’d drop a couple in the sand for us to find to make us feel like we found the golden treasure! After watching episodes of COPS, Cailie and I would convince you to tell us our favourite made up stories of “Roy the Boy and Shirl the Girl”. You were such a great story teller I’d stay up to hear the whole story- meanwhile Cailie would be fast asleep. It’s the simple things with you that meant the most to me. Even though I won’t be able to chat with you over the phone anymore, I know you, Grandma, and even Murph will tune in and watch over me and my family. So with that being said, I love you Grandpa, and I know you’re saying “same here” on the other side. Love, “The kid” The family would also like to convey their deep appreciation and gratitude to the medical staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton. There will be a private funeral on Wednesday, November 4, 2020, at The Circle of Life Cremation and Burial Centre in Dundas, Ontario. All are welcome to join the family in Gerry's memorial service via Zoom Meeting. Topic: Wilkinson Memorial Service Time: Nov 4, 2020 11:00 AM America/Toronto Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/92933770461?pwd=eXNkSEhWS3V2UGV6RE1reitVNXZTQT09 Meeting ID: 929 3377 0461 Passcode: 592903 In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made in Gerry’s memory to the charity of your choice.

Tributes

Gerard Raymond Wilkinson

May 20, 1934 - October 30, 2020