Sports Wall of Fame
• Middle linebacker on a team that won the WCIAA Championships four times.
• WCIAA All-Star in 1965, 1966, and 1967.
• CIAU Championship (1967), silver medalist (1965).
• Played for the Edmonton Eskimos (1968).
• Team dentist for the BC Lions Football Club until 2004, winning a Grey Cup ring for his contributions.
The ten year span from 1961-1970 was a golden decade of football for the University of Alberta Golden Bears. Over the course of these years the Golden Bears dominated Canada West play as well as the fledgling CIAU championships. Among the players who formed the foundation of five of these great teams was a superb middle linebacker – John Wilson. John was a graduate of Strathcona Composite High School where, in addition to being an excellent scholar, he captained both the school’s football and basketball teams.
When John enrolled at the U of A in the autumn of 1963 he turned out for the football team. In the final game of his first season, the Golden Bears played the powerful Queen’s University Golden Gaels for the first unofficial national university championship – symbolized by a trophy aptly named “The Golden Bowl”. In a superbly played match, the Bears turned aside the Gaels 21-7. John’s teams went on to become the finalists in the first Vanier Cup (emblematic of the CIAU championship) in 1965 and winners of the Cup in 1967. During the years that John starred on the team’s defensive squad the Bears won WCIAA championships in 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1967 and he was named a WCIAA All-Star in 1965, 1966, and 1967. In his last two seasons with the Golden Bears John was selected as one of the team captains.
John’s ability to “read” an offense made him an all-star middle linebacker. And this vital middle linebacker’s skill led to his record number of interceptions in the Golden Bears’ 1967 Vanier Cup victory, a record that stood for 22 years. Not surprisingly John’s most defining and memorable moment as a Golden Bear football player was his pass interception in the dying seconds of the 1967 Vanier Cup championship game. McMaster, the Bears’ opponents, was scrimmaging inside of the Bears’ 20 yard line. The Bears were defending a 10-9 lead. John’s interception sealed the victory for the U of A. It was John’s last play as a Golden Bear player. His sterling abilities and his high quality leadership won him a Block “A” sweater and three numerals and made him a first round draft choice by the Hamilton Tiger Cats (in 1966). Subsequently John was traded to the Edmonton Eskimos for whom he played in 1968.
Following the completion of his degree in Dentistry, John moved to North Vancouver where he established his practice. In 1990 he joined the medical staff of the BC Lions as the teams’ dentist, a position he held until 2004. When the Lions won the Grey Cup in 1994, Dr. Wilson was awarded a Grey Cup ring in recognition of his important contributions to their success.
Canadians love the sport of ice hockey. And John Wilson was no exception. He had played hockey on the streets and in the rinks of Edmonton for many years and his love of the game led him to become the coach and a member of the Executive of the Hollyburn Country Club Hockey Program from 1984 to 1997. His talent as a leader shone once again and under his tutelage the Hollyburn hockey program became one of the best in B. C. His teams won many championships and John was named Coach of the Year in 1987-1988 as well as Executive of the Year in 1989-1990. Though John is no longer directly involved, the Hollyburn program continues to produce outstanding hockey players and teams.
In 1990 Dr. Wilson entered the world of aviation. He earned his commercial pilot’s license, became the President of JTS Aviation Corporation (an international company that focuses upon the purchase and sale of aircraft as well as charter operations) and he remains actively involved in this mode of transportation that has been a vital part of the building of B. C.
John is married to his high school sweetheart, Krista Kalbach (a Strathcona and University of Alberta graduate) and together they have three children – Jessica, Tyler, and Scott. The family resides in North Vancouver where Dr. Wilson maintains his dental practice.
The outstanding contributions of John Wilson as a U of A athlete and as a builder of sport programs fit well into the criteria established for induction into the University’s Sports Wall of Fame. We are proud to call him a University of Alberta alumnus and a member of the Sports Wall of Fame.
