Victoria businessman and lawyer David Wilson died suddenly on May 11 during a European holiday.
Wilson, 72, died in Vienna while on a river cruise with Brenda, his wife of 30 years.
Nicknamed Wick, Wilson was a fourth-generation Victorian and son of former mayor Dick Wilson. He attended Glenlyon and Shawnigan Lake schools. He studied at Neuchatel Junior College in Switzerland, Western University and Victoria College before taking a law degree at UBC.
Wilson was former president of the Union Club, served on the Saanich police board, St. Georges Housing Society and more recently as a director on the Broadmead Care board.
“He wasn’t a guy to sit back and do nothing,” said Scott Marshall, his former law-firm partner of 37 years. “If he got involved with something, it was full- bore.” And yet, he never bragged or boasted about his community involvement, Marshall said.
Victoria lawyer Robert Mulligan said he has many positive memories of Wilson.
“I certainly did know David for several years and was very sad to hear of his passing,” said Mulligan. “He was very effective counsel in his work, which was very broadly based. He did trial work and work outside of the courtroom. He was always a very intelligent and powerful presence in anything I ever saw him do.”
Lawyer Peter Firestone remembers Wilson from his time on the Saanich police board.
“The 1980s were a difficult time for policing in Saanich. David Wilson acted as a mediator between the police union, represented by Dermod Owen-Flood, and the employer. And he did a lot of good work in that area.
“It was all about trying to help the community and make sure they had properly paid policing on one hand and making sure Saanich taxpayers weren’t paying too much as well,” Firestone said.
“He was a hard-working guy, a family man, a good lawyer and a well- respected litigator.”
Wilson was instrumental in having a difficult contractual dispute resolved, and everybody was better off by virtue of his involvement, Firestone said.
“He was a very nice man. He had this devilish smile and the lights were on and somebody was home. He was also a successful developer,” said Firestone.
At one point, he recalled, the city’s London Drugs complex was called the Wilson Centre.
A service will be held at Christ Church Cathedral at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
