51³Ô¹Ï

Wally and Florence Wilkinson Memorial Bursaries were established through a gift from their estates. 

Wally and Florence Wilkinson once flipped burgers on storm-tossed freighters, toiled in banks and worked in commission sales to amass their life savings.  Through this gift, the Wilkinson’s gave UVic more than $1.5 million to provide students with the educational opportunities they never had.

Wally Wilkinson was born in 1909 in Montreal and started his career selling hot dogs and hamburgers for a nickel in his own café, turning a three per cent profit.  When business dropped off during the Depression, he signed on as a cook on Great Lake freighters.  Florence was born in New York and met Wally in New Brunswick.  After they married in 1937, she joined her husband on the freighters as a cook’s assistant.

After the couple settled ashore in 1942, Florence worked as a bank teller while Wally embarked on a series of sales jobs, ranging from electronics to business forms, before he retired at age 78.   The pair moved to 51³Ô¹Ï in 1981 where they enjoyed golf, Saturday night dances at the Pro Pat Legion and the social life of the Union Club.

Wally enhanced the couple’s savings through wise investments.  He died on February 28, 1998.  He had been married to Florence for 60 years.  She died on August 16, 2001.