Person

Wong, George Westley

• 黃榮惠

• Wong, Wesley
• Wong, Wes

1922-2004

George Westley (Wes) WONG was born on September 8, 1922 in Brandon, Manitoba, to father Sam WONG and mother WONG Quongying (also known as WONG Lim See) as the first of the Wong family’s five children. His father had landed in Canada in 1910, and opened the Carlton Cafe in Brandon around 1919, while his mother had arrived from [台山 Toisan/Taishan previously known as 新寧 Sunning / Xinning] the year before.

Wes was a keen student: when he was eight years old, he started Grade 1 at Easter and completed Grades 1, 2, and 3 in the next 15 months to make up for his late start. A former teacher in China employed in his father’s restaurant also tutored Wes in Chinese for two years. He graduated from Brandon College in 1944 with a Bachelor of Science and pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia.

He joined the Physics department as a faculty member at Brandon College in 1946, where he taught for the next 37 years. He later served as the head of the Physics department, the Dean of Science, and as the university's Vice President after the college attained university status in 1967. Wes dedicated much of his academic career to expanding the university: in 1960, he co-authored the Blueprint for Action, which set the stage for the opening of the first new buildings on campus since 1922. Wes was also instrumental in establishing the Bachelor of General Studies program, the astronomy observatory, and restoring liberal education as a component of all Arts and Science programs.

Wes met Helen Foo in 1941, a mixed-race Chinese Canadian born to Charlie (also known as KOA Hong) and Frances Foo. Throughout his college days, Wes courted Helen, and they were married in Winnipeg in 1945 before settling in Brandon. The couple was married for 58 years and had four children: Westley Douglas (b. 1948), Brian Kenneth (b. 1951), Nancy Ellen (b. 1954), and Alan Michael (b. 1961).

His family remembered him as a dedicated father and grandfather who enjoyed fishing and duck hunting with his children and friends. Wes’s son, Brian, recalled, “there wasn’t much that our Dad couldn’t build or fix … from toys and a dollhouse for his kids to vanities, the cottage and rowboat at Killarney.” According to daughter Nancy, “our Dad made the best sandwiches for road trips. He loved making them. But he always would forget to take them and we’d find them in the fridge later and have to enjoy them ourselves! He’d complain every time!” Wes and Helen were also avid square and round dancers and were members of the Circle 8 Club for over 30 years.

Upon retirement in 1983, Wes was granted Professor Emeritus status but returned in 1987 to chair a fundraising campaign that raised over $5 million for program development. In 2000, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree along with the title of Dean Emeritus in 2003.

Wes passed away on January 31, 2004.

Description supplied by collector/curator