Jim Taylor, 1937-2019
Recruited from a journalism class at Vic High, Jim Taylor (VHS 1955) went on to become an award-winning sportswriter, humourist, and author of some 19 books.
Click here for an appreciation by Jack Knox in the Times Colonist.
Click here for an appreciation by Tom Hawthorn; a shorter version appeared in the Globe and Mail.
Click here for an obituary from the Vancouver Sun.
Click here for a memoir from his friend and fellow journalist King Lee (VHS 1958).
Click here to view a video honouring him as one of Vic High’s “Illustrious Alumni” (2014).
Tommy Mayne, 1918-2018
No one personifies the special qualities of Vic High better than Thomas W. Mayne (grad 1935, teacher 1945-78). He was revered as a social studies teacher, drama director, and sponsor of the madcap skit group Calamity Players. Following his retirement in 1978, he developed a second career as a community leader and philanthropist.
Click here for an Alumni Association feature that traces his teaching career (2009).
Click here for a Times Colonist feature on his contributions to the wider community (2011).
Click here for an obituary published in the Times Colonist (2018).
Click here to view a video honouring him as one of Vic High’s “Illustrious Alumni” (2016).
Reg Reid, 1924-2017
Reginald H. Reid was a Vic High grad (valedictorian 1943) and teacher (1957-63) before serving as one of the school’s most popular and effective vice principals (1967-77). A celebration of his life was held on June 3, 2017, in the Lawrie Wallace Auditorium.
Click here for an obituary published in the Times Colonist.
Click here for a tribute written by King Lee (VHS 1958).
Click here for a Times Colonist feature written by Cleve Dheenshaw (VHS 1974).
Jill Wallace, 1948-2011
The top academic grad of Vic High’s class of 1966, Gillian P. Wallace rose to become a Queen’s Counsel and British Columbia’s Deputy Attorney General. She was also a longtime stalwart of the Alumni Board, and a cheerful helper in the VHS Archives for several years. Here as elsewhere, she was admired for her thoughtfulness, dedication, good humour, and attention to detail. A celebration of her life was held in the Lawrie Wallace Auditorium on March 10, 2011, with more than 600 friends and family in attendance.
Click here to read a feature on Jill in the Times Colonist.
Click here to read a tribute to Jill written by her family.
Click here to read a memoir by Heather MacAndrew, Jill’s lifelong friend, who spoke at the celebration.
Lawrie Wallace, 1913-2006
Lawrence J. Wallace was a Vic High grad (1930) and teacher (1946-53) before embarking on his celebrated career as perhaps the most accomplished civil servant that British Columbia has ever known. Committed to Vic High and its future, no matter what his other responsibilities were, Lawrie Wallace always had time for his school. He was the chairman of the Vic High Centennial Committee and helped to create the Alumni Association. Lawrie has been recognized by the school through naming the auditorium in his honour.
Click here for an obituary published in the Times Colonist
Click here for a tribute written by King Lee (VHS 1958) and Barrie Moen (VHS 1968) and published in the Times Colonist.
Duncan Lorimer, 1919-2005
Vic High and the Alumni Association lost a good friend with the passing of J. Duncan Lorimer, the last of Vic High’s long-serving principals. He spent a quarter century, almost his whole educational career, at Vic High. He remained a stalwart friend of the school, actively involved in alumni affairs, and will be remembered as embodying the school’s spirit by the thousands of students who knew him.
Click here for an obituary published in the Times Colonist.
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