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Captain Bill Wilson loves phone calls.

It’s the first thing he does when he has an idea: often procuring an artillery piece or artifact for the Alberta Naval Museum, which he helped create.

As he celebrates his centenary next week, he is still full of ideas.

“He calls me 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.

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“He always calls admirals. He has earned this right.

Wilson was surrounded by well-wishers including longtime Navy colleagues Premier Danielle Smith and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek on Friday evening to celebrate his upcoming 100th birthday.

This Winnipeg-born man was 15 years old 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 maritime invasion in history. He was discharged in the fall of 1945 and awarded the Atlantic Star for his service. After the war, he attended business school 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 general manager of transportation at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

Wilson retired in 1993 from his role as president of Transnova Transportation Consultants, although he approached the task of retirement quite lightly. At that time he was a driving force in the creation of the Alberta Naval Museum, and in 1990 he helped establish the Calgary Military Museums, opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

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In recent decades, Wilson has devoted much of his energy to the Naval Museum. Over the years, he proved to be very adept at obtaining large caliber naval cannons and various naval artifacts.

About two years ago, he heard about an anti-aircraft gun on display in Hamilton that was rusting outside. Although the naval museum had a similar weapon, it was in even more fragile condition, said Scott Hausberg, a former sailor who served in the Calgary naval reserve in the 1980s.

In a relatively short time, he had arranged for the Department of National Defense to transfer the property from Hamilton to Calgary, along with other necessary transfers, and had the building refurbished.

“People don’t say ‘no’ to him…he’ll call whoever he wants. He has the admiral on speed dial,” Hausberg said.

He also received the Alberta Order of Excellence and holds the Queen’s Silver, Gold and Diamond Jubilee Medals.

Fred Mannix, a highly successful Canadian businessman and recipient of the Alberta Order of Excellence, worked with Wilson to create the Calgary Military Museums. Mannix, who worked with Queen Elizabeth II to develop the museum, said Wilson helped integrate the Naval Museum after the museums were established.

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Wilson’s nickname in the Navy is Captain Rabbit, Mannix said. “A rabbit was somebody, when you needed something he found it legally, illegally or whatever.”

This nickname was given to Wilson for his ability to procure various pieces of military equipment, Mannix said. He remembers seeing Wilson at an event where a Navy ship was being broken up. The propeller, also known as the wheel, caught Wilson’s attention. So he asked for it.

“By the time we got back to Calgary, the wheel was already installed outside the museum,” Mannix said with a laugh. “This is a typical Captain Rabbit action.”

Friday night’s big celebration may not have been something Wilson would have wanted, but deserved, Hausberg said.

Mannix said Wilson has always been “forward-thinking” and “always trying to figure out what could be done better and what could be achieved.”

After years in which Wilson could have retired into quiet retirement, Mannix said the future centenarian remains an uplifting figure.

“He’s a very positive guy, one of the most positive guys you’ll ever meet.”

[email protected]
X: @mattscace67

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