Bill Moffatt ’72 Continues to Inspire

 

Every summer, my Stanstead friend Bill Moffatt ’72 would invite me to visit him at Folly Lake, a gorgeous spot north of Truro, Nova Scotia. Year after year, for some reason or other, the visit would get postponed – until this past summer. When I learned that Bill had been stricken with crippling ALS, my visit became urgent.

 

Make no mistake, the effects of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig disease) are devastating. Bill is immobile and is in need of constant assistance.

 

Despite the debilitating effects of the disease, Bill fights his battle with an unshakable optimism and spirit that leaves everyone around him in awe. Instead of focussing on the bad, Bill focusses on the good fortune that life has offered him. Rather than giving in to the plight of his illness, Bill bravely and defiantly takes on the demon like some kind of new challenge – much like he has done his whole life.

 

At Stanstead, Bill was an affable student and athlete (varsity football and basketball) and a proud resident of Colby House. After graduating from Grade 12 in 1972, Bill went to Mount Allison University where he earned a bachelor of science degree, followed by an MBA from Western University. He went on to a successful career in investments and financial planning in Nova Scotia, most recently with RBC’s Merchant Moffatt Wealth Management group. He is a member of the Stanstead College Council of Trustees.

 

Bill now spends most of his time at his home overlooking beautiful Folly Lake, where he is surrounded by his loving family. To keep mobile, Bill acquired a motorized “off-road” wheelchair, the likes of which I’d never see before. With it he can head down the gravel road to brother Garfield’s nearby home. Garfield installed a special lift next to his swimming pool so that Bill could literally go for a dip.

 

Bill also has a specially adapted van so that he can still visit his golf course at Fox Harbour and roam the fairways in his wheelchair.

 

As defiant as Bill is of his physical challenges, his intellect and positive spirit are on yet another level. In conversation, Bill will touch briefly on his physical disabilities. However, the rest of the time his intellect, humour and spirit shine through brilliantly, whether it is recounting often-hilarious Stanstead antics, or misadventures of us working together for his father’s moving company in Truro.

 

He recounts how he mastered his skill of woodworking and cabinetry after apprenticing with a grandmaster cabinetmaker.

 

Bill is always ready to share the wisdom and lessons of his life’s experiences, always with the aim of making the world a better place. His positive outlook is contagious. Friends with whom he had studied at Western University raised over $500,000 to help found the Bill Moffatt Ivey Business School Scholarship, which will annually provide financial aid to students. It will be awarded for the first time this spring.

 

Somehow Bill manages to relish every moment. He inspires you to appreciate the good things that life offers and makes you realize that so many of our so-called problems are not really problems at all.

 

They say that a person’s true character is revealed when they are under duress. By that measure, Bill is a true hero.

 

As I was leaving Bill’s lakeside home to head back to Québec, I passed his now-unused woodworking shop and emotion welled up. This parting was, indeed, such sweet sorrow.