DFC, BA, MA, PhD, FRGS, FR.Hist.S., Professor Emeritus
5 January 1923 – 26 March 2012
William Rodney, airman, scholar and gentleman, died at home on 26 March 2012. Born in Drumheller, Alberta, he joined the RCAF at the age of 17, trained at the Commonwealth Air Training Base Patricia Bay, and earned his pilot’s wings. He flew Halifaxes in operations over Germany and Occupied Europe as a Flight Lieutenant with RAF Squadron 78, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar for “gallantry during active operations against the enemy”. After World War II, he attended the University of Alberta, meeting his wife Helen (McGregor) of Edmonton, and graduating with First Class Honours in History. During the summers, he worked as a Ranger in Waterton Lakes National Park, where he came to know the story of “Kootenai” Brown, whose definitive biography he was later to write and for which he received the American Association for State and Local History Award of Merit and Distinction. Bill and Helen married in 1950, when he took up a Beaver Club Trust Fellowship at St John’s College, Cambridge, where he completed a BA and MA in history and played ice-hockey for Cambridge University. After several years working in Ottawa for the federal government, he returned to Great Britain with his family and completed a PhD in History at the London School of Economics, under the supervision of Leonard Shapiro. He published Soldiers of the International, a History of the Communist Party of Canada 1919 – 1929, based on his doctoral research. In 1962 he moved to Victoria to take up a teaching position at Royal Roads Military College, where he stayed for the remainder of his career, ultimately becoming Dean of Arts. His former students remember “the Rod” with affection and admiration. During his years at Royal Roads, he took an active part in College and academic life, regularly publishing scholarly articles. Among many research grants and awards, he received a NATO fellowship to travel to French West Africa and report on conditions there. He was a Fellow, Royal Historical Society; Fellow, Royal Geographical Society; Life Member, Cdn Hist. Assn.; Mem., Cdn. Institute of Intl. Affairs; Johnian Society and Dir., Cambridge Canadian Trust. A firm belief in the need to return to primary sources drove him to travel frequently for research. In preparing Joe Boyle, King of the Klondike, for which he was awarded the University of British Columbia Medal for Popular Biography, he spent considerable periods in Roumania and in Turkey, in order to consult original documents, including the personal diaries of Queen Marie of Roumania. After the early death of his beloved wife Helen, and his own retirement, he travelled widely – to Japan, China, Burma, Australia, Turkey, Abu Dhabi, many European countries and Great Britain – and was active in the community at home in Victoria. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Gonzales Hill Preservation Society and Gonzales Hill Regional Park. He was also an active member of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Chapter (now CIC) and of the Vancouver Island Aircrew Association. He leaves his grieving children, Helen Catherine (Michel Drouin) and John William McGregor (Glen Dixon), and his granddaughter Emma, the apple of his eye. He is remembered with great affection by his sister-in-law Evelyn Rodney of Vancouver, his sister- and brother-in-law Gwen and George Molnar of Edmonton, many nieces and nephews, and friends across the world. He was a fine pilot, a rigorous scholar, a good friend, father and grandfather, an erudite, honest and honorable man. He did his duty.
The funeral will take place on Thursday 5 April at 11:00 a.m., at the Interfaith Chapel, University of Victoria, followed by a reception. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society. Condolences may be sent to the family below.
34 Responses
I have only just learned, with sadness, of Dean Rodney’s death. Dr. Rodney was Dean when I was a cadet at Royal Roads in the late 1980s. Some years later I had the great privilege of attending St. John’s College, University of Cambridge as a graduate student. Within the first week or so of arriving at John’s, as I wandered down Trinity Lane with eagerness to breathe in the rarefied air of centuries of learning, I recognised, with surprise, a very distinguished gentleman, in the mould, perhaps, of Robertson Davies: Dr. Rodney. I said “hello, you won’t remember me…” but, of course, he did (I expect that cadets of either a distinguished or poor academic calibre were brought to his attention – unfortunately, I fell into the latter category). We spoke briefly of various things but I recall, in particular, his comment about his own time at Cambridge. “It was so different in my day.” Thus, I carried on, disabused of my misplaced sentimentality, but with a fond affection for Dean Rodney’s mischief.
Dear Helen and Greg (that is how I know John’s name)
I did not hear from your father last Christmas, but I did receive the British Columbia Magazine that he sent me every Christmas, so I did not realise that Bill had died. Only after my email to him was returned to me I wanted to find the reason for it and I Googled his name and found this obituary. I am so very sad that he has gone, but I am also very upset that I did not write to you sooner. Bill and Helen were great friends to my husband John and when our daughter was born we decided to ask them to be her godparents. Every year I gave Bill a report on how she was doing. Helen was also a great loss. I thought a great deal of them. We visited Bill in Victoria when we came to Canada, but Helen was no longer with us at that time. Bill was a great host and he showed us the University and his home. We had a great time with him. I am so sorry I shall not be getting his annual missives at Christmas.
Please accept my condolences and my best wishes to you and yours,
Ljubica
My heart goes out to you. “I suggest that you pay attention because you won’t see his like again” – MC announcing one of the last performances of Joe Venuti.
I was a student of Dr. Rodney’s at Royal Roads from 1971-73. Having just sadly learned of his passing, I wish to remember him now not only for his brilliant mind, but for his compassionate heart.
During the early 70s Royal Roads was a very tough institution. In those days close to half the candidates at Roads dropped out or failed. Polishing boots, buckles, and belts till well past midnight coupled with the vigorous physical fitness program left us very tired during classes, and I slept quite often during lectures, including history. This was particularly disconcerting because I was not just another engineering student but rather one of Royal Roads very first Arts Class, of which 13 of us completed the year and became known, mostly among ourselves, as the “old thirteen.”
Being in Arts, I should have been more attentive in history, but I was not. Yet Dr. Rodney did not seem at all worried about my “in class sleep habits.” He seemed content to instill in me whatever knowledge I could receive that day. And if I was asleep, then he would try again the next day. I never had to worry about Doc Rod, for his compassion eclipsed any other consideration, be it related to being derelect in assignments etc.
But it was not only for that reason that we liked him so much. The depth of his sincerity in trying to instill in us a love of knowledge was phenomenal. And his patience in so doing was equally so. And his kind and patient manner reaped great success. Many of Doc Rod’s students went on to complete MA’s, and I was fortunate to publish one of my research endeavors in the Journal of Diplomatic History. I must thank him now for the role he played in that, for in the beginning he instilled in me a deep respect for knowledge and enchanted me with the flow of history, all the while compassionately ignoring my many defects.
Many will remember his brilliance, as will I. (I still have an autrographed copy of his award winning book, “Kootenai Brown.”) But in my heart I wish to remember him most for his compassion and kindness. And so I now send my heart’s gratitude to Doctor Rodney, and my condolences to his family for their loss.
Thank you Dr. Rodney.
God Bless and keep you, as I now He will, for He cherishes compassionate souls.
Sincerely
Rob (“Our man Robbie”) Pauk
RMC Class of ’75
Royal Roads Class of ’73 (“the Old 13”).