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Walter Gordon Miller McWilliams
(March 22, 1963 – May 16, 2022)
The South Grenville Community has lost a true “South Grenville GIANT”.
It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the peaceful passing of Walter McWilliams, age 59.
Walter was a devoted and loving husband to Melba (Antonakos), proud and adoring father of Samuel, and loving son of Myra McWilliams (nee Miller) and the late Robert McWillams.
He will be missed but not forgotten by many family members, including: his Mother & Father in law (Bessie and Angelo), his aunts, uncles, sister-in-law, brother in laws, cousins, nieces and nephews, and his cherished good friends and thoughtful neighbours.
So many of you were part of Walter’s unfortunate journey over the past 4.5 years. Your positive messages full of hope, strength and love, along with his faith, inspired Walter to keep moving forward with life. He did not dwell on “why me?” but embraced the unknown and turned every day into a gift, appreciating the smaller things in life. As painful as this journey was, he was able to find peace during times of despair, as his faith helped to carry him through the emotional and challenging time.
Walter’s favourite quote, was “in the end, only kindness matters.”
This value of kindness motivated Walter to be an active, engaged, and caring member of his community. He never missed an opportunity to give back to others, whether it was the students he worked with, those he volunteered with, his colleagues, and his loved ones. Everyone who met Walter could feel his kindness. He was described as a sincere, positive and energetic person who loved helping his community. Many lives have been touched by his presence.
Walter was an educator at heart. He was passionate about every chance he got both to learn and to teach. Walter had a life-long ‘travel bug’ from the many adventures taken with his beloved parents over the years, and he took any chance he could to meet new people, see new places, and hear new stories. After graduating high school, Walter attended Trent University for a BSc Honours degree, then received his Master’s Degree in Geography from Wilfred Laurier. Walter then completed his Bachelor of Education at Queens University, which led him to some unique work experiences which shaped him and fed his love for travel. He had an adventurous time teaching for 2 years in Attawaspikat, Ontario. He then had the opportunity to teach in Belleterre (Northern Quebec), followed by teaching at the Joyceville Penitentiary in Kingston.
As many of you may know, the majority of his teaching career was at South Grenville DHS. This school meant a lot to Walter: it is where his wife, Melba also attended high-school and where his son Samuel, currently attends Grade 9. He met some very dear friends at SGDHS and established long-lasting relationships with staff. It meant a lot to Walter to be able to have an impact on students’ lives and to be able to help form a warm, fun, and kind environment at school. He was known as the “zoo guy” as he enjoyed planning an annual trip to the Toronto Zoo on a Coach bus. He even dressed for the occasion, wearing his safari vest, hat and shorts.
He always believed in giving back to his community, and a few of his volunteer interests included: Rotary International, where he was a previous member and a chair of the Prescott chapter; board member of the Grenville Community Futures Development Corporation; past member of Canadian aid for Chernobyl, where he assisted in Belarus humanitarian efforts. He was honoured with Connect Youth’s citizen of the year award, and was a volunteer for the South Grenville District High school Breakfast Program. He earned the name “muffin man” from his students.
The most important goal in Walter’s life was to be a good father, husband, son, uncle, and friend. He sought to share as many experiences, lessons, and memories with his son as he could – and Walter always prioritized building a loving and beautiful home where he and his family shared many special moments, right up until the end.
We give a sincere thank you to all of his caring Bayshore homecare Nurses over the past 4.5 years (Lisa H, Dustin C, Lindsey D, and Kelly S). You will never be forgotten. Thank you Dr. Ashe (Palliative care) for being so compassionate. A special thank you to Dr. George Kellam, who always made time to speak to Walter, no matter how busy his schedule was.
Walter was truly blessed to know all of you, just as we were blessed to have him in our lives. When we look back on Walter’s life, we should remember that he had so much love packed into those 59 years. Walter loved, and was loved, deeply. From him we can learn a lesson to appreciate each and every day as if it is our last, to never take the time we have for granted, to live (and love) to our fullest and, of course, to always be kind.
In memory of Walter’s life, we will be hosting the visitation and funeral at:
Irvine Memorial Chapel at Roselawn
2451 County Road 15, Maitland, Ontario
Visitation: Friday, June 3, 2022
2 pm- 4pm & 6 pm – 8 pm
Funeral: Saturday, June 4, 2022 at 2:00 pm (in the Chapel at Roselawn)
A recording of the service will be added to this page on Monday, June 6th.
Charitable donations in memory of Walter:
-The South Grenville Food Bank
-Brockville and District Hospital Foundation (palliative care)
-Canadian Cancer Society
Please write any special memories of Walter on the Memory Wall above.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Walter McWilliams Monday May 16th 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Maitland, Province: Ontario