Bill's Story - Lakeridge Health Foundation

Meet Bill, dedicated Board Member for Lakeridge Health Foundation and a committed supporter of local health right here, in our Durham Region. As a board member, Bill brings a wealth of professional and academic successes to our senior volunteer team including Bachelor’s degrees in Life Sciences and Civil Engineering, and an Executive MBA from Queen’s University.

After months of social distancing due to COVID-19, our community is starting to reopen just in time for summer. For Bill and his wife, Olivia, and two daughters, Emily (15 years old), and Alina (9 years old) this means a lot more time spent together.

“Having my wife Olivia, and both of my daughters in our home full time has been a big change for me. It takes time to adjust,” shares Bill. “I sat down with both of my daughters in January and I told them what the novel coronavirus was at that time. I told them I didn’t know what it was going to be but that I wanted them to feel comfortable in our home. I told them that we didn’t know what was going to happen but that we were going to take this one step at a time.”

One positive moment for Bill to come out of the pandemic was celebrating his daughter, Alina, on her 9^th birthday this past March. For Bill it was “amazing!” to see Alina delight in learning to bike and now “there is barely a day where she doesn’t go out for a ride.”

As his family spend more time together, this past father’s day for Bill was a time to cherish the memory of his own beloved father, Ewart, “the one I would talk to.” Bill fondly recalls past Father’s Days where his father would join his family for a happy get together around the barbeque, enjoying home-made burgers and asparagus best of all.

“I think what makes me so proud as a father is to see [Emily and Alina] develop. From being babies to girls and essentially young ladies as they are growing up to be right now. It makes me proud to see how they are able to do that independently, and amazed to see the things they learn and what they can do. That is what being a parent is about.”

With summer here, Lakeridge Health Foundation has kick-started a new virtual Hockey for Health Heroes initiative to support our local Hospital. As a long-time hockey player, Bill shared that his favourite hockey team is “any but the Montreal Canadiens!” Both of his daughters enjoy playing the good ol’ hockey game and for Bill, hockey has travelled with him through his life since he was seven years old. In university, he played hockey during his last five years of study.

While summer may look differently this year, Lakeridge Health Foundation hopes that you and your loved ones are able to celebrate and cherish your family memories. If you would like to honour your loved one, or pay tribute to their lasting memory, you can always make a donation online.