Charles Wakefield

CHARLES (CHUCK) TOWNSLEY WAKEFIELD (aka “Coach”, “Ros’ husband” and other terms of endearment from time to time).

Born in Toronto, July 10, 1947 

Died in Toronto, Tuesday December 3, 2024.

77 years plus. A good long run some would say, but not long enough for those who knew him.

His talents were evident from the time he was just a kid. A student and athlete at Whitney Public School, he played an integral role on hockey and softball teams that won city championships in ‘56-58. For his high school years, he convinced his parents that private school wasn’t for him and enrolled at Jarvis Collegiate Institute which had a good academic program and a very diverse student body. Chuck was happy in that mix; he learned to accept and work with people as they are. He became a multi-sport participant and was Jarvis’ Athlete the Year in 1964/5 which led to a football scholarship to Wake Forest in North Carolina. His career there was ended by a near fatal car crash. After life saving hospital treatments and with a severely damaged knee, he came back to Canada. Following rehab, he enrolled at Waterloo University where he starred as a wide receiver and quarterback over 4 years. After graduation and auditions with Hamilton and Edmonton in the Canadian Football League, he taught and coached football at Central Tech in Toronto, a career that spanned 33 years. He was once voted Coach of the Year by the Ontario Amateur Football Association and more importantly, coached the senior team to 13 City Championships and 2 Metro Bowl Championships in 1987 and 88. His was the only team to win back to back titles. 

Football was surely a love of his life, but it was the impact on the kids he taught and coached that meant the most to him. He was loved and respected in return. A news atricle reported one former player saying: “He had a huge impact on us and was like a surrogate parent...my dreams became a reality because of him”. 

At the time of his retirement in 2007, Chuck was quoted: “It’s been great working with kids. Many needed a new start and football was a way of keeping them focused, away from trouble and determined to do well...I leave knowing I did my best”.

And he did his best not just in the classroom and on the football field.

He played very good golf over the years. He and other friends played a variety of local and sanctioned tournaments. Chuck played the Ontario Best Ball several years, won the odd game at his home club, Uplands and was the Ontario Lefties Champion at one time. Better still, he was a periodic winner of The Jarvis Invitational Golf Tournament, a regular event since 1964.

And then there was skiing. It too became a passion which started with friends in the ‘70s at rented chalets at Blue Mountain Collingwood and took him to mountains in Europe and the US Southwest. He was at one in the ambiance created by the Colorado mountains and visited in summer too. He was so proud to introduce his Ros to a place and people that to him were like family. They shared their own “Rocky Mountain High (Colorado)” ever after.

There are hundreds if not thousands of people who knew Chuck in a particular time, place and circumstance. There are others still around who have known him since kindergarten. Regardless, anyone who knew him at any time, at any place will marvel at his open, as-is, no pretense, humourful, angerless, let’s-enjoy-ourselves presence and behaviour.  

Chuck grew up in a warm, welcoming and inclusive home; many of his childhood friends found it a safe, loving second home. His parents George and Lillian planted deep seeded roots of love, acceptance and the joy of sports. They formed the man we know and love.  

You might get the idea Chuck was all about sports. He was good at them all, but he had passions beyond. 

His music passion was Country. Waylon, Willie and the boys. If there was music in the car or the house, it was Country. He seemed to know the Hook from every song.

He taught and loved history, particularly that of the WW II era. He was perhaps even more taken with the American Civil War which inspired several trips to the South East to deepen his understanding. He also loved the history of film and used to joke about at least one credit course which required him to watch movies all class long.  

You’d engage with Chuck in a trivia contest on these (and other) subjects at your peril. 

He was a fan of the great W.C. Fields and could quote you any number of lines from Fields movies. Like Fields, he had a line for any situation and pulling them out of his repertoire at a key moment put people at ease and made them laugh, often at themselves. One of the classics was: “Anyone who hates children and dogs can’t be all bad”.  

A memorable one, but it wasn’t Chuck. He loved all the kids he taught and coached. He loved his step children Brenda, Ken, Rob and Steve. And he loved dogs (especially Bob The Dog) but truth be told, he was a cat guy. As a kid there cats were a constant; a big Persian Danny Patch and Quincy come to mind, but the best of all was his latest...Ginny... who incredibly has outlived both Chuck and his wife Rosalind (Ginny’s “mom”). 

No mention of Chuck’s life can be complete without acknowledging the true love of his life – beyond the sports, friends, teaching and coaching – there was Rosalind, Rosalind Linthorne Wakefield. Chuck and Ros dated for years and were married in 2003. Their first meeting was arranged by Ros’s sister Joan who came to know Chuck as a regular patron at – of all places - her bar. Life from that point on was Never Better for Chuck. Ros loved him unconditionally. Her support, and willingness – no, desire – to ski and play golf with him were incredibly good for Chuck, especially after retirement. In fact she became the family golf addict...and regularly demanded that Chuck get off his ass and take her out for a round. She was the family coach and quarterback. Ros died suddenly in August 2020. There are many friends who think he never overcame his grief, so much did he love and depend on her.  

In thinking of the two of them together, friends will recall a hundred stories. 

One such – at their wedding which was a wonderful celebration and party - their first dance was to the Jimmy Buffet song: “Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw”, which is appropriately a Country song, and...so irreverent, so playful, so confident, so Ros...so Chuck. 

It’s impossible to count the number of people he ran across on his journey and equally impossible to document how and how much he mattered to them. It was a lot though. He mattered. He was a special piece of work, whose very being was the thread that brought so many together. People just don’t come any better. They just don’t.

A Celebration of Chuck's Life will be held:

Sunday March 2nd

1 to 4 PM

The Army Navy and Air Force Veterans Club

1655 Weston Road 

Toronto, M9N 1V2

416 653 4545

The family hopes you'll be able to join them! 

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There is a John Denver song that would be a nice sign off to this obituary. If you are so inclined, it’s “The Wings that Fly Us Home”. For Chuck...and his beloved Ros.

In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate a donation to either Canadian CJD Association or Alzheimer and Dementia.

Click here to make a donation to Canadian CJD Association

Click here to make a donation for Alzheimer and Dementia