He was a teacher, a volunteer, a proud Woodstonian, and he was never too busy to lend a hand.

Bill Gillespie – known by most of the city as the community champion behind the Woodstock Terry Fox Run – died on March 11 after a battle with cancer.

“It meant everything to him to be able to be involved with the Terry Fox Run,” said Gillespie’s wife Nancy. “He just enjoyed it so much, and felt that there was benefit from the research that the Terry Fox Foundation is doing.”

Gillespie’s granddaughter Rachel Schooley said the Terry Fox Run was a symbol of something much larger – her grandfather’s commitment to his city.

“The message and purpose of the Terry Fox Run were so meaningful to him, but equally important were the aspects of community that came along with the Terry Fox Run,” she said in an email.

Schooley said working with the other volunteers who put so much effort into the run, and seeing local residents come out to share support and struggles were a big part of the appeal for Gillespie.

“Community was a driving force for my grandpa,” she said. “I saw his love of community in everything he did; he was very involved in many different events, yes, but even going to the grocery store to pick up a few items with him meant a good hour or two spent talking to people he’d run into.”

It’s no surprise Gillespie was a popular figure considering his widespread community involvement and the many years he spent as a high school teacher.

“Bill was an educator through and through. Whatever it was he had to teach you – you learned. Not just on the clock; outside the classroom he was always teaching life skills,” said Maggie Hagedorn, administrative assistant at Huron Park Secondary School.

Before Hagedorn became Gillespie’s colleague at Huron Park, she knew him as her teacher.

“I think anyone who’s had Bill Gillespie as a teacher would always remember him,” she said. “We all have that one special teacher throughout our education, and for many, many residents here in Woodstock, Bill Gillespie would be that teacher.”

In addition to molding young minds, Gillespie was an avid athlete and coach, even inducted into the Woodstock Sports Wall of Fame as a Lifetime Achievement member.

“He was fortunate enough to play basketball most of his life,” Nancy Gillespie said, calling sports one of his most cherished hobbies. “He loved basketball, but he also loved sports of all flavours.”

Gillespie played varsity basketball at Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier) and as an adult with the Woodstock Kings, as part of an inter-city men’s league.

“He played basketball with a great bunch of friends that are still in our life for many, many years,” Nancy said. “Bill was also fortunate enough to travel to Denmark for the World Masters Games, and then to Australia twice.”

In his coaching days, Gillespie led the Huron Park Huskies on the basketball court and at the track

“He always went over and above the expectation,” Hagedorn said, referring not just to sports roles but to all the positions Gillespie held.

“Bill was very passionate about fundraising and being involved in our community, and he never did anything 50 per cent. It was 200 per cent, always. When he gave his time to any event, it was going to be done and it was going to be done well,” she said.

Gillespie was always a driving force for the Lions Club of Woodstock, said member Mark Schadenberg.

“I remember at Christmastime he would always be raising money for different charities,” he said. “He was always the one to be the go-between for the Lions Club and these charities, to say ‘what do you need this year?’”

It was Gillespie who created the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle schedule; Gillespie who rallied the club when funds were down and donations were needed, Schadenberg said.

“You never had to tell Bill to do anything – he had already done it,” Schadenberg said. “He always spearheaded these campaigns, really out of the goodness of his heart. He would do anything and everything for people.”

Never was that more evident than when Gillespie was with his family.

Schooley said she treasured the ability to share her grandfather with her son, Oliver.

“It’s been so wonderful watching Ollie experience so many of the things I was able to in my own childhood – picnics in my grandparents’ backyard, my grandpa’s infamous ‘Donald Duck’ impressions, and being unconditionally loved by this weird and wonderful family we are both so lucky to belong to,” she said.

But Hagedorn said that Gillespie made everyone feel like family.

“He’d be the one helping you dig your garden out, or if you were in a parking lot emptying your thousands of (grocery) bags, he’d be the one to stop and help load your vehicle up,” she said. “There was no job below him or above him.”

Schadenberg said that although Gillespie’s death will leave a great hole for Woodstock to fill, it also offers an opportunity.

“I think he’s left enough of a legacy behind, it’s time for others to step up, too, join his brigade,” Schadenberg said. “It’s a call: keep the volunteerism and teamwork going to make this a better community in all facets.”

If Gillespie’s lifetime of community contributions is any indication, it’s exactly what he would have wanted.

mstacey@postmedia.com