After 30 years, an influential teacher and coach will be retiring from the Lakeland Catholic School District. Brian Walsh has been an important person in shaping the Voyageurs football team but even for those who weren't on his team or didn't have him as a math teacher, he has also played an important role in the community.
Walsh was referred to as one of Notre Dame High School's (NDHS) “pillars” by Principal Jason Bayer. Walsh has been a part of NDHS since it was changed over to the high school system from a junior high school.
Jeff Cey, who was the MC for the retirement party this past Friday and taught with Walsh for 11 years, referred to NDHS as “The house that Walsh built,” during Walsh's retirement party at the Fish and Game Club noting the school would not be the same without him.
Walsh began working for the LCSD in 1982. Originally from Montreal and having spent a lot of his life on PEI, he was hesitant to move across Canada and conform to Bonnyville's views and lifestyle. Many co-workers and friends shared their stories in his decision to move west but Walsh told his story best.
“The people out here told me, because in Alberta they travel long distances, that (Bonnyville's) just outside of Edmonton. To an islander, that is five kilometres,” he joked. “I find new roads all the time. It only took me about five hours to get from Bonnyville to Edmonton the first time. It's quite the spot.”
He thanked his mother for giving him the courage to take on Bonnyville as a new adventure, since teaching positions were few and far between out east.
“She was always saying, ‘It will happen, don't worry.' I said, ‘Mom, it's 4,000 kilometres, are you crazy?' And mom said, ‘Go out there and try it, see what it's like, go to the adventure.'”
Walsh thanked the LCSD for taking a chance on some “potato picker from PEI who couldn't even find Bonnyville on a map” and bringing him to a place where he now calls home, with his wife and two daughters.
After many speeches by students taught and coached, co-workers, family members and friends, Walsh said he was flattered for all the “genuine speakers” but said his successes would not be possible without the great leaders in his life, which include his father, father-in-law, Uncle Dave and best friend Henry Szydlik.
“These men don't talk, they lead. It's quite the challenge to walk in their footsteps and to try to do what they do,” he said. “And to be anywhere close to fulfilling what those guys did in their careers, I'm honoured that anyone would even consider that I would be in the same legacy as those guys. Those were incredible leaders in our community.”
He thanked his friend Szydlik for “taking him under his wing 30 years ago,” teaching him many things about the area, about how to be a great teacher and more importantly, introduced him to his wife, Diane, which really made the difference between him staying in Bonnyville and heading back out east, home to his family.
“I have to thank you, (he) looked out for my best interest because I was going home,” he said. He joked how there were no single women in Bonnyville and before he met Szydlik, who introduced him to Diane, he had no reason to stay.
“I don't know how a town can have no single women. This does not make sense. So Szydlik went to his girlfriend and the girlfriend was told, ‘We need single women here immediately,'” Walsh laughed. But Szydlik didn't just introduce Walsh to single women, he introduced him to new hobbies, friends and aspects of the community Walsh had either never seen or simply overlooked.
“(Szydlik) has been an incredible friend, he has been a brother, he has been another one of those men who doesn't talk, he just does, he just leads,” said Walsh.
And it's a good thing Walsh met his wife, Diane, because he said a lot of his career would not have been the same without her and his two daughters. Diane encouraged Walsh to bring sports into the community and the lives of all children.
“She fought for every kid and really wanted to see that everyone was taken care of,” he said. “And when he'd be cutting students from the football team, she'd say to him, ‘You don't know anything about this child here and this child here and this child here, they need to be on that football team.' ”
Walsh said when he would speak realistically about having a team with more than 40 members, stating there is not enough gear, she would say, “We will find gear for them,” or “I will sew it, I will fix it.”
And Walsh said he carried much of the same enthusiasm, stating: “I didn't want any kid in our community not able to play a sport.”
He said it is unfortunate that due to economics, this is not possible for everyone. “We really have to take a look in our community and I want to make sure every kid has a chance to play something, I don't care what the sport is. There's a sport for everybody.”
His two daughters each gave speeches on what it was like to have Brian Walsh as their father.
Cecile, one of his two daughters, said it makes her so proud when people approach her, saying “Your father is the greatest guy I know,” or “Your dad changed my life.”
She said, “Having you as a teacher was pretty awesome, having you as a father is pretty amazing,” ending her speech by calling Walsh, her father, her hero.
She said many of her high school memories involve him, ranging from everyday hellos to not-so-friendly run-ins.
“Or my favourite, you yelling at a fellow student of mine for parking in the visitor's parking spots only to be told at the end, ‘Mr. Walsh, can you come and see where your daughter's parked?' ”
Glen Nowosad, who worked with Walsh for 12 years, described him as “very optimistic.” He said he was “always looking for new ways to engage students” and has been and always will be “respected by all students and staff.”
Bayer said “Walsh hall” in NDHS will never be the same. He presented Walsh with a jersey, which had 1983 on the front and 2012 on the back: the year Walsh walked in and when he walked out of the school.
Coach Larry Godziuk described Walsh as “competitive,” “knowledgeable,” “passionate,” “opinionated,” and “all-inclusive,” stating he looks up to Walsh as a role model and leader in the community and in sports.
Dan Jubinville, head coach for the Bonnyville Bandits, who was taught by Walsh in Grade 7, said, “You are Bonnyville football,” and said all of his bandits team know, respect and support “Coach Walsh.”
Walsh's younger brother Barry also came out to Bonnyville to celebrate his brother's retirement. He said he was proud of his brother for his commitment to the town for 30 years and all the great things he has done for the school, before raising his glass in a toast to his brother.
“I have had a hell'uva great time here,” concluded Walsh. “I'm very happy for the opportunities that this town has provided for me. The people here have been very gracious and my teaching assignment has been incredible and I really do love this school and the football program. Seeing everybody here tonight, it's really humbling.”
