Calgary park dedicated for man who lived on Sunnyside streets

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Paul ‘Smokey’ Wilkinson by no means would have anticipated to have a metropolis park named after him, in response to his pal Bryce Paton.

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However that’s now a actuality, following a Sunday dedication ceremony for a central Calgary park off 14th Avenue and Memorial Drive N.W. in his honour.

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Wilkinson was residing in homelessness when he died in 2017 of a drug overdose. He was a long-time fixture within the Sunnyside space, with a status for his beneficiant coronary heart and mischievous spirit that earned the nickname of the “King of Kensington.”

“Hopefully as time goes on, there will probably be those that keep in mind him, the character he was and the affect he had on many, many individuals,” stated Paton, a congregant on the close by Hillhurst United Church, the place Wilkinson would usually attend Sunday service and chat with churchgoers.

“He was a blended bag. There have been occasions I needed to hug him and there have been occasions I needed to cuff him at the back of the top. There have been occasions I went on the lookout for him at evening. I drove him to rehab many occasions. He was advanced, and he had the behaviour that goes with residing outdoor tough.

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“After I first met Smokey, I didn’t know him, however I acquired to know him higher. Then I acquired to love him, I acquired to like him, and now I get to recollect him.”

Paton spearheaded an software for the town to think about dedicating a inexperienced house for Wilkinson in 2019, which metropolis council permitted in 2021. (He joked Wilkinson’s unhoused buddies initially urged lobbying to rename the alley behind the church, the place Wilkinson usually hung out, after him.)

The dedication marks the primary time a public house in Calgary has been named for somebody experiencing homelessness.

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That type of visibility is one thing Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek stated is significant as the town continues to cope with homelessness and addictions.

“He broke our hearts open and he made us see one thing that we haven’t seen, and that’s the indisputable fact that an individual who’s confronted with homelessness is an individual in a state of affairs of vulnerability,” Gondek instructed the group of about 50 on the park Sunday.

“Homeless doesn’t imply anonymous, and when you identify the folks which can be in these conditions, they grow to be part of your neighborhood. They grow to be folks it’s essential to care about.”

Amongst attendees Sunday had been Wilkinson’s sisters Carolyn Whitmee and Adrienne Learn, who each travelled to Calgary from Oshawa, Ontario for the dedication occasion.

Wilkinson was the youngest of 5 siblings born in Ontario. Whereas his older siblings had been raised by relations, Wilkinson was raised straight by his mom, who additionally struggled with habit.

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Whitmee stated she solely discovered of her brother’s demise — and his homelessness in Calgary — when she acquired a name from the Hillhurst Church after he handed away.

“It was fairly surprising and unhappy that he was doing what he was doing,” Whitmee stated. “I believe he had a extremely good coronary heart, and he reached out to folks as a result of he didn’t have anyone.”

Shawn Gaudry, a detailed pal of Wilkinson’s on the streets, gave a quick however heartfelt tribute on the occasion: “I miss him lots. He was a great pal.”

Afterwards, he remembered good occasions with Smokey, preserving heat on chilly nights burning wooden pallets and ingesting beers by the river.

“He was cherished,” Gaudry stated.

— With recordsdata from Madeline Smith

jherring@postmedia.com

Twitter: @jasonfherring