Wayne Hamilton

May 14th, 1949 - November 27th, 2015

CDR (Retired), RCNR, CD2, Queens Jubilee, BA., BEd, MEd

Brookside, Nova Scotia

It’s with much sadness that we announce the death of Wayne at his home in Brookside, after a brief, brave fight with cancer.

Born in Summerside P.E.I he was the first son of the late Flt Sgt Murray and Minnie Hamilton. He is survived by his wife, Gerri, sons Andrew (Carli) Brookside, Sean (Emilie) Toronto, brothers Robert, Gordon (Rosemarie) & family & sister Betty Jean MacMillan (Don) & family.

Wayne enlisted in the military after high school in Chatham N.B. He attended the Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean and then served on HMCS MIRAMICHI, SASKATCHEWAN and OTTAWA. On leaving the regular force to return to university, he transferred to the Royal Canadian Naval Reserves and became a member of HMCS SCOTIAN. Scotian was like a second family to Wayne and he had many fond memories of the unit, such as his time as Navigation Officer and XO on HMSC Porte St. Jean and Porte St. Loius doing summer training deployments off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Also, his command of the PBL DETECTOR in support of the Olympic Regatta Kingston in 1976.

Wayne served in various senior positions at Scotian before he was posted to an operational billet at MARCOM HQ as Naval Control of Shipping Officer, Halifax and NCSO N.S. He was then posted to Maritime Coastal Defence Halifax as Commander and then Deputy Commander MCD Maritimes. He later assumed command of Harbour Defence Unit One (HDU1) & Port Security Unit One (PSU1) as operational units within Maritime Operations Group 5. He served in numerous operations across Canada and with NATO forces as well as during events such as the G7 in Halifax and Swiss Air. He retired from active duty in 2004 after 36 years of military service.

In his civilian career, Wayne taught students at Brookside Junior High, CP Allen and was VP of Timberlea Junior High. In 1985, he initiated the province-wide Students Helping African Relief Efforts project (SHARE) at Brookside Junior High. He also helped found the Canadian Council for Geographic Education in 1993, for which he was honored for excellence in geographic education by the International Council for Geographic Education in 1999. He was then seconded to Natural Resources Canada where he developed the National Educational Canadian Community Atlas project as part of the the team that placed the national atlas online.

After teaching at C.P Allen, he moved to the Department of Education, Learning Resource & Technology division as an I.T consultant. He was team leader on many projects such as the Advanced Studies Program, the Canadian History 11 Online Project and developed technology plans for new school construction. He retired in 2013.

Wayne was a firm believer in community. He was a founding member of the Brookside Community School, was a volunteer firefighter for 14 years and founded the District 4 Jr. Firefighters. He was an original and active member of the Brookside Homeowners Association and he helped develop such projects as Yeadon Green & Campbell Point Park. He was also Vice Chair of HRM Joint Emergency Measures Western Region & Vice Chair of the Board for the Prospect Road Recreation Association.

Wayne always felt his biggest accomplishment was his life with Gerri, Andrew & Sean. He loved living on McGraths Lake in the house he built and enjoyed all it had to offer like sitting on the deck sipping a glass of wine with friends or watching the moon and sun rise over the lake. He was a motorcycle enthusiast, loved jazz, making wine, taking his students on ski trips, camping across North America with his young family and travelling the world with Gerri.

Wayne's philosophy was that life was not a dress rehearsal so he lived everyday with enthusiasm and a commitment to his family, his country, his teaching career and his community.

His family would like to thank the VON, the Palliative Care team and Northwood for their help and support.. In honor of Wayne, if you wish, please make a donation to the QEII Foundation - Palliative Care Unit.

https://qe2foundation.ca/memorial-donation