A tribute to my friend Dave Williams 1940 - 2017      High School Picture (1958)

For some of his railway related cartoons click at the bottom

I came to Canada in 1955 to Meadow Lake, Sask. I did not speak English, came from difficult circumstances, It was awkward for me. I wore shorts when nobody in those days wore shorts. I was made fun of (bullied). Dave Williams was in my Grade 11 class and took me under his wing. Dave was far beyond everybody in ability, maturity and intelligence. But definitely even then he was the square peg in a round hole. But, he was BIG, had a booming voice that would rattle windows. He was my protector. He was also an artist and writer and could do just about anything. He built a glass bottom boat in 1956 !!! out of scrap lumber which we launched in Meadow Lake with an official christening.

I moved, he moved, we lost contact.

One day, I don't know how he found me, he dropped in on me while I was working as Telegraph Operator on the CN in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) about 1962.

Next, while living in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), about '66 I got a call from Dave. He was in the air force (I don't know his rank) and wanted to know if I wanted to go on a Search and Rescue Mission up towards the Arctic with him. I flew all day in a DC-3. Flying was his passion. I am told he flew a crop duster through a barn, just like in the movies. He also liked flying upside down in crop-dusters. Perhaps he wrecked one or two.  His wife tells me he didn't.

We lost contact again. One afternoon shift in 1975, I got a call from him while dispatching on CP in Vancouver, asking if I was the same Helmut Wisinger that he had gone to school with in Meadow Lake. He had found my name in the CP Employee Time Table. He was working full time as Engineer Technician for CP in Revelstoke doing preliminary work for the new MacDonald Tunnel. He was deeply involved in many aspects of Revelstoke life. We met again. He was quite involved in the construction of the resort at Three Valley Gap. See cartoon.

Once when visiting in Revelstoke about 1981, I had made arrangements to meet Dave for coffee. I was wondering how I would find him. Ha ! Down main street comes this ancient 1947 or so black pick-up with a railway cowcatcher on the front and marker lights and a steam engine headlight on top. Dave was different and had a very quirky sense of humour. He was also "green" before the word had been coined for something other than a colour.

Miriam, his wife, recently located a phote of said truck and sent it to me, along on a couple of cartoons David drew on its rather serious accident.

As mentioned, among his many talents Dave was a cartoonist. Here's his take on the wreck. He drew himself into the picture in the second cartoon.

One of these says, if I dare, I will scan in a cartoon Dave made of me in our 1956 High School Yearbook. Times were different then.

In June 1998 I received a call from Dave from VGH (Vancouver General Hospital) advising me that he was to have an operation for an aneurysm the very next day by a doctor who had come in from Toronto or some such. I visited him. That is the last time I saw Dave as ther Dave I knew.

The operation itself was successful I am told, but while waking up he suffered a stroke or something very similar to a stroke. He then had many follow-up surgeries to put in draining shunts and who knows what all. After four months in VGH, he was transferred to Revelstoke where he resided in the extended care unit until his passing in 2017. He did finish another book while in there (on flying). Dave never smoked or "did drugs". I don't think he drank, was an AVID outdoorsman. His exploits in that field are legend. If there ever was a single word to describe him, he was the "Mountain Man".

Dave got married to Miriam on his 35th birthday. They had many dreams together, many of which remained unfulfilled. Miriam was a tower of strength for Dave, especially after his mother died of cancer in a hospital room very near to his room two years after his operation. I do not believe he had other close relatives.

Now for some of the cartoons he brought while visiting me in the dispatching office in Vancouver in 1975. When looking at the cartoons, remember, this was a different age, a different operation and different circumstances than are found today. 

Some of Dave's murals located in the Revelstoke Recreational Centre, not the museum. Although in the museum itself there is a rather quirky mural also done by Dave. The murals in the rec centre are better than 20 feet wide. Be sure to see them.

Click here for cartoons.