Miramichi Leader Paper
February 8/05
William Vickers
Mr. Co-op dies at 83
by Bill Brewer
William Vickers, affectionately known
as Mr. Co-op, is going to make one last milk run.
It was his one last wish.
The 44-year manager of Northumberland Co-op passed away
Saturday at 83.
After his death, Vickers’ family found a written request in his desk at
home that he be carried in the back of a Northumberland Dairy pickup truck
instead of a hearse.
One of Vickers sons, John of Victoria, B.C., said the family intends to see his
wishes granted and will have the truck pick up his father at Davidson’s Funeral
Home Wednesday afternoon and pause in front of the dairy before arriving
at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Newcastle.
John said one of the things he’ll remember the most about his dad will be the many
late night talks he shared with him over the phone. Often he would get up in
the middle of the night and, if he couldn’t sleep, we’d get a call at 9 or 10
o’clock at night (in B.C.),” he said. “He loved to be in touch with us
all.”
And the son will also remember numerous trips with his father to
people’s homes when someone passed away to drop off milk and cream from the
dairy. Besides the dairy, Vickers focused on the community as a school
trustee, as a Northumberland County Council member, Rotary Club member and a
member of the Newcastle town council – among others.
“He was a kind of pillar along the river,” John said. “This was his home.”
Vickers is survived by his wife, Monica, his daughter, Mary Rawlinson, and four
sons: Kevin, John, William and Kingston.
His family will remember him for numerous generosities and
kindnesses, and Vickers will also be remembered with fondness for his time at
the Northumberland Co-op. “He dedicated his life to the co-operative
movement,” John said. Miramichi MP Charlie Hubbard agrees.
He said Vickers was a pioneer at the dairy co-operative and a leader in the community.
“He was a guy who worked about 80 hours a week,” Hubbard said. “[He was] more
interested in helping the community and workers at the dairy co-op than his own
welfare.”
Hubbard has been friends with Vickers for decades. They sat together on the
Northumberland County Council in the 1960s and later, when
Hubbard served on the executive of the dairy, where he was also president,
Vickers was manager.
“His primary process in life was to make the co-op successful,” Hubbard said.
“He brought that company from two employees (when it
started) to having about 300 when he retired.”
Paul Adair, the assistant manager for the store at the dairy co-op, worked for
Vickers for 15 years.
“He was a good strong family man and a good man to work for,” Adair
said. But Vicker’s generosity and hard work for the community probably won’t
ever be truly realized, he said. “He did a lot of stuff he didn’t want people
to know about,” he said. “He didn’t want the recognition.”
Anyone who wishes to pay respect to the Vickers’ family can go to
Davidson’s Funeral Home where visiting will take place today from 2-4
and 7-9 p.m.
The funeral procession will start at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday outside the funeral
parlour and proceed to St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church for the funeral mass at 2
p.m.
WILLIAM JAMES VICKERS
William J. Vickers, 83, of Miramichi, New Brunswick passed away Saturday, February 5th, 2005 at the
Miramichi Regional 7 Hospital.
Born August 11th,1921, he was the son of Albert and Emma (Burns) Vickers and attended St. Mary’s
Roman Catholic Church, Miramichi.
He is survived by his wife, Monica (Kingston) Vickers, one daughter, Mary Rawlinson (Ed), and four
sons, Kevin (Ann) of Ottawa, Ontario, John of Victoria, B .C., William of Yellowknife, NWT and Kingston
of Indian Rocks Beach, Florida; Four grandchildren, Andrew, Erin, Laura and Amy.
He is predeceased by brothers Bennie, Allan and Albert (Jr) He is survived by sisters, Mary,
Sister Margaret, Ella, Sister Charlotte, Sister Alice, Joan, Alberta and two brothers Burns and Gerald.
All have been blessed with his steadfast love and example, particulary the Co-operative movement.
He was a retired manager of Northumberland Co-operative Limited where he served as manager for
44 years, from March 1947 until November 1988. He lived his life upon the co-operative philosophy
of people helping one another and believed in the spirit of giving.
He served with Newcastle Town Council, the Newcastle Community Planning Board, the Newcastle
Rotary Club, Northumberland County Council, the New Brunswick Housing Commission, and
School District #8. He took Co-operative Studies under the Reverend Moses Coady at St. Francis
Xavier University and was a member of the University President’s Club and also attended the
Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph, Ontario.
A heartfelt thanks to Doctor Joesph Hrncirik for the tremendous dignity and respect he showed
William and also thank you to the dedicated staff of Miramichi Region 7 Hospital
At the request of the family, memorial donations to the Coady Interational Institute online at
www.stfx.ca/institutes/coady/text/difference.html Funeral arrangements under the direction of
Davidson’s Funeral Home, Miramichi
Tuesday, Feb 7th
Dear John,
Your father was a very, very good friend of Coady Institute and I was fortunate to meet him on many occassions here at St FX. I remember
in my early days at Coady of the students who visited Northumberland Co-op and were so well hosted by Bill.
He was generous with the time he made available to the Institute in those days and afterwards in his retirement.
Over the years I was to learn a great deal about the early days of Coady Institute from Bill.
Bill Vickers was a very keen, courageous, and deep thinking cooperator and friend of the Antigonish Movement.
I believe that his passing will leave a gap in the ranks of knowledgeable and committed cooperators and
community-spirited individuals in Northern New Brunswick.
On behalf of the Coady Institute and St. Francis Xavier University, I wish to offer our condolences and
sympathy to your mom, Monica and to all of the family. I know that Mary Coyle, Coady Director would
want to offer her personal condolences. She is currently on study leave and will not return to
Canada until May.
Hugh Landry
Acting Director
Coady International Institute
St. Francis Xavier University
Miramichi Weekend
Paper
Legacy of Bill Vickers will
endure for all time
by Susan Butler
This past week, the Miramichi lost a prominent businessman in the
person of
William Vickers and
our family lost a very good friend. Bill, as we knew him,
built the co-op industry on the Miramichi.
My father, the
late Charles Butler, worked side-by-side with him in accomplishing
this. When
my
parents got married well over 50 years ago, my mother was told
she had
married into the co-op.
I remember as an elementary student going down after school to the
Creamery –
that’s what the
Northumberland Co-op was called back then – to wait for my dad.
There was only one small
building at that time. The first building was even
smaller, situated behind what is now the
Beaverbrook Kin Centre.
It was common
practice for Bill to call my dad at 6:30 a.m. to discuss
business.
Both were early risers. My dad never got flustered if there was a
pending crisis. He would always
be the problem solver.
Bill was 83 when he
died, but his interest in the co-op never diminished. In
fact it was only a
month ago that this paper featured an article of his.
I don’t think the
Miramichi realizes the impact the co-op has on the economy of
this river.
It now has over 265 employees and three different unions, a far cry
from its humble beginning.
Many may wonder why a request was made that donations in Bill’s memory
go to
the Coady
Institute at St. Francis Xavier in Antigonish N.S. This was the
university Bill attended. His
teacher was founder Father Moses Coady. The
institute is a people’s movement for
economic and social justice that began in
Nova Scotia during the 1920s.
It was setup
at St. Francis Xavier University in
1959. Nearly 4,000 development organization leaders from
over 120 countries
have taken part in the Institute’s campus-based programs.
Bill continued his association with the institute after graduation from
St.
Xavier. There
were many occasions that exchange students came to the Miramichi.
It has been a number of years since dad passed away, but Bill kept open
the
lines
of communication with our family.
Often he would call
just to see what
was going on.
The greatest honour the present co-op bestowed upon Bill and my father
was the
awarding of two annual scholarships in their names to the high
school.
Bill Vickers has four sons and one daughter, all of whom have excelled
in their
chosen
careers. They are Kevin, in Ottawa; John, in Victoria; William,
in
Yellow Knife; Kingston, in Florida
and Mary, in Miramichi.
