‘People don’t say no to him … he’ll call whoever he has to call. He has the admiral on speed dial’
Capt. Bill Wilson loves a phone call.
It’s the first thing he goes to when he gets an idea — often to procure a piece of artillery or an artifact for the Naval Museum of Alberta, that he helped create.
As he marches past his centennial next week, he’s still full of ideas.
“He calls me up all the time and gives me orders,” said Laraine Orthlieb, a retired commodore. In 1983, Orthleib became the first woman in the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve promoted to the rank of Commodore.
“He still calls admirals. He’s earned the right.”
Wilson was surrounded by well-wishers, including long-time naval colleagues, Premier Danielle Smith and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek on Friday night to celebrate his upcoming 100th birthday.
The Winnipeg-born man was 15 when the Second World War broke out. When he turned 18 in 1942, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve in Winnipeg.
Wilson participated in D-Day on June 6, 1944, the largest seaborne invasion in history. He was discharged in the fall of 1945 and was awarded the Atlantic Star for his service. Post-war, he went to business college and worked for Canadian Pacific Rail, now known as Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). He moved with his family to Alberta in 1976 to work on various pipeline projects, and eight years later retired to work as the general manager of transportation at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
Wilson retired in 1993 from his role as president of Transnova Transportation Consultants, though he approached the task of retirement rather lightly. At that point, he had been a driving force behind establishing the Naval Museum of Alberta, and in 1990, he’d helped create The Military Museums of Calgary, which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
Over the last several decades, Wilson has dedicated much of his energy to the Naval Museum. Over the years, he’s proven highly adept at obtaining large bore naval guns and various naval artifacts.
About two years ago, he’d learned of an anti-aircraft gun in Hamilton that was rusting outside on display. Though the naval museum had a similar gun, it was in even rougher shape, said Scott Hausberg, a former navy man who served on Calgary’s naval reserve in the 1980s.
In relatively short order, he had arranged for the Department of National Defence to transfer the ownership from Hamilton to Calgary, along with the other necessary transfers, and arranged for it to be refurbished.
“People don’t say ‘no’ to him … he’ll call whoever he has to call. He has the admiral on speed dial,” Hausberg said.
He has also received the Alberta Order of Excellence and holds the Queen’s Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals.
Fred Mannix, the highly successful Canadian businessman and a fellow recipient of the Alberta Order of Excellence, worked with Wilson to establish The Military Museums of Calgary. Mannix, who interfaced with Queen Elizabeth II in developing the museum, said Wilson helped bring the naval museum into the fold after the museums were created.
Wilson’s navy nickname is Captain Rabbit, Mannix said. “A rabbit was somebody, when you needed something, he would find it either legally, illegally, or whatever.”
The nickname was bestowed on Wilson for his ability to procure various pieces of military equipment, Mannix said. He remembers seeing Wilson at an event, where nearby a navy ship was being scrapped. The propeller, also known as the wheel, caught Wilson’s eye. So he asked for it.
“By the time we got back to Calgary, the wheel was already established outside the museum,” Mannix said, laughing. “That’s a typical action of Captain Rabbit.”
Friday night’s large celebration was not something Wilson may have wanted, but deserved, Hausberg said.
Mannix said Wilson has always been “forward-thinking” and is “always trying to figure out what could be done better and what could be achieved.”
After years in which Wilson could have retreated into quiet retirement, Mannix said the soon-to-been centenarian remains an uplifting personality.
“He’s a very positive guy — one of the most positive guys you’ll ever meet.”