A candlelight vigil to pay respects to a much adored École Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d'Youville teacher is looking to become a very large gathering.
When Rock Thibodeau passed away on June 24, he left his family as well as many past and present colleagues and students in mourning. He was 54.
“Mr. Thibodeau was the best at creating an environment where his students could experiment, fail, and find solutions to problems on their own. I was always awful at IA, but as a teenager who wasn't good at doing what she was told, his classroom provided a supportive space where I could make mistakes. He had a talent for teaching kids that they were capable, and my six years at ESSMY wouldn't have been the same without him,” said Natalie Joly, now a St. Albert city councillor.
The loss of such an enthusiastic and approachable teacher has hit many people hard. He was equally known for his comedic nature and for his impressive physical abilities as a bodybuilder. While a celebration of life has been organized for the family, one former student has taken it upon himself to co-ordinate a much more public display of everyone’s collective affection for the man they fondly call ‘Mr. Thibs’.
“He did so much for all of us,” said Brandon Elias. “He was a very private person. He wanted the funeral to be close family. I thought, ‘why don’t we do something for the community?’ Everyone who wants to go out and celebrate his life can come to this candlelight vigil. It’s a good little get-together… to just let it all out and get a little bit of closure.”
Elias is expecting anywhere from 600 up to 2,000 people.
“It’s going to be a big, big event. There’s just so many people that were affected by him.”
Elias offered his own memories of how Thibodeau made a lasting and positive impact on his life. He said that he was more than just a teacher.
“He was like the best friend of everyone in the school. He was an inspiration to all students. He went above and beyond with every student. Every time when you walked into his classroom, he’d always have music playing, he’d be always just that happy guy with a big smile. He’d try to make it so much fun to learn. Whenever you had a problem, say he had something going on with himself at home or with another friend, he was the guy that you would go to over any other teacher in the school. He was just the guy that everyone loved, everyone appreciated his effort with each kid.”
There’s no shortage of comparable comments from other people, many of whom also noted their intentions to attend the vigil, which will be held at Kingswood Park on Wednesday, July 4 starting at 9 p.m. People are encouraged to bring candles, flowers and any notes that they would like to be delivered to the family.
Helen Jamieson is the parent of two children who, she said, were “lucky enough to have him as a teacher.”
“He was the kind of teacher who built relationships with his kids and truly enjoyed mentoring the young people in his classes. He gave them respect and he got it back in spades. I truly believe you would be very hard pressed to find a present or former student of his that had a bad thing to say about him. I feel so blessed that my two older kids had an opportunity to be in his class and I am so very sad that my younger kids won't have that chance. The loss of Mr. Thibodeau will be felt deeply at ESSMY for many years to come,” she said.
Former students Hailey Mahon and Kirsten Throndson also offered their sadness at the loss of such a respectful and inspiring teacher.
“I didn’t love school nor was I the most academic, but even in his quiet and humble demeanour, Thibbs brought fun and laughter to my six years spent at ESSMY and to every student in the school whether he taught them or not,” Mahon said. “It is such a shock to have lost such a huge influence on so many people. I will miss seeing him lifting ridiculous amounts of weight at the gym and we all know he’ll keep up the pranks and rock ’n’ roll in God’s arms.
“He was a fantastic guy. He is one of the teachers that inspired me to become a teacher myself. His sense of humour was second to none, and despite all of his joking around, you could tell he really believed in his students,” Throndson said. “He made learning fun, and I still use many of the skills he taught me, both in the classroom and out.”
A GoFundMe campaign to establish a memorial bench has already reached two-thirds of its goal of $2,000. On the crowdfunding page for the campaign, former city alderman Neil Korotash commented, “Thibs, so many good memories. Your sense of humour was second to none. You taught us the finer arts of sarcasm and practical jokes. I'll never forget the hours you spent with us working on the yearbook, the KISS airband performance you inspired, the left-handed hammers and so much more. You were taken from us too soon.”
