Mark Robert Wilkie

Our outgoing, handsome, funny, brave son and brother, Mark Robert Wilkie was born March 24th, 2003, and left this world all too soon only 20 years later. We will forever be changed by his passing. But more over, and more importantly, we are forever changed by his life.

We all know there are many ways to measure a life, and they aren’t always in years.

After all, there were many times we never thought Mark would see his 5th birthday let alone his 20th. 

And within those 20 years a lot of life was lived.

A lot of love was had.

A lot of love was given.

A lot of memories made.

A lot of joy was found and shared.

Oh – and a lot of ice cream was consumed.

The following are more than a few examples of the some of the above.  They may just look like words on a page. Many of them won’t mean anything to you if you didn’t know him. Many of them only pertain to certain parts of his life. But all of them helped to make Mark who he was.  We hope some of these resonate with you and are representative of pieces of your time together with this incredible young man we had the privilege of calling our son and brother; and whom you may have had the privilege of calling friend, grandson, nephew, cousin, student or coach. He loved you all.

Baby Bear. Boo Bear. Sisser. Creating Zoos. Juggling. Halifax Waterfront. Playing Magic. Animals. Animals. Animals. Softie. Kicking ass and taking names in Catan and Unstable Unicorns. Laughter. Sarcasm. Queens. Duke of Ed adventures. Moosehead games. Tree hunting. Potato. Cheeseburger. Countless Bonfires at Avonport Beach. Wolfville soccer. Putting on family shows. M&Ms. A little gang of campground bikers. Wolfville Basketball. Acadia Basketball. A little gang of campground hooligans. Day long scavenger hunts. Wolfville Badminton. Geotrax. Playing Wii, Xbox and Nintendo. Wolfville Volleyball. Horton Volleyball. Acadia Axe Volleyball. Valley Venom Volleyball. Dal Intramural Volleyball. Coaching Scotia Juniors Volleyball. (There might have been a little volleyball). Watching hockey. Creating hockey pools. Hanging with the LES peeps. Cycling. Lego. Lego. Lego. More Lego. Warriors Book Series. Harry Potter. Theme Parks. Rollercoasters. NSSAF Award. Jellybellys. Brawl Stars. Third Floor Risley. Any Tom Cruise movie. Any Jurassic Park movie. Any Toy Story movie. CARS. CARS. CARS. The movie, his room, his bed, his walls. And when he got older, actual cars. HTTYD. Brigadoon. Laser tag. Bob the Builder. Camping. Math. Hiking. Washer Toss. Risser’s Beach. Number 4. Water Polo at Dal. Long talks. Late nights. Boys in the basement. Boys in the pool. Boys in the basement. Boys in the hot tub. Boys in the basement. Boys shooting hoops in the yard. And oh yes… I think sometimes there might have been boys in the basement. Collecting Sea Glass. Collecting the most Sea Glass. Nerf. Crystal Crescent Beach. Finding the last Easter Egg. Hermit Crabs. Peanut. Drew. Ginger. Oliver. Rocky.

He lived. He loved. And he was loved.

He was Respected. Loyal. Funny. Friendly. Outgoing. A Gatherer. Brave. Resilient. (Yes, I said resilient. He was so damn resilient in so many ways we can’t begin to fathom.) Adventurous. Empathetic. Up for anything. Competitive. Athletic. Thoughtful. Kind.

Mark was loved fiercely by us - his parents, Karrie-Ann and Craig Wilkie; and his sister, Megan Wilkie; as well as his grandparents, Donna and Gordie Robinson, Joan and Robert Wilkie; extended family of Jack, Melissa, Katie and Allie Robinson and Jeff, Samantha and Mitchell Wilkie and Kathy Werhar and Norah, Kevin, Mitchell and Amelia Jensen. He will continue to be a strong, constant and loving influence in all of our lives as he lives forever in our hearts.

A Memorial will be held at the Louis Millett Community Complex in New Minas on Sunday, May 28th at 1:00 p.m. in Lynn Spencer Hall. Dress as you wish. T-shirts or ties. Jerseys or dresses.

Please note - After the memorial we have arranged to have an open gym at the same location for anyone who would like to play spike ball, volleyball, shoot some hoops and spend some time just being active together and remembering Mark on a gym court – a place he truly loved being.

There will be no burial, no graveside service. There will however be fellowship at the Centre following the official ceremony with light refreshments accepted and provided … because we all know Mark loved to eat. No flowers please.

We didn’t ask for any directed donations at the time of Mark’s death.

Instead we waited.

We waited so we could create something purposeful that could make a difference, bear his name and last forever.

We know money is tight.

The amount doesn’t matter. Truly.

But the act of honouring Mark does.

So please click the link, and read about a different ‘kind’ of scholarship we have created.

 

https://cfns-fcne.ca/mark-wilkie-memorial-scholarship/