The founder of Wilson’s Transportation, Vancouver Island’s largest bus company, has died.
William (Kello) Wilson, who was 92, was a trucker and delivery man who grew the company into a fleet of more than 140 vehicles that provide tourism sightseeing services, charters, ferry connectors and airport shuttles.
Wilson drove buses — which he called his “babies” — until the age of 82 and was a regular in the shop, said son, John Wilson, who started working for his father as a teen and now runs the Wilson Group of Companies.
“He held a Class 2 licence until his early 80s … he absolutely loved to drive,” said Wilson. “He was most comfortable behind the wheel. He was never one for being behind a desk and he was a real people person, too. He loved driving and people. That was his thing.”
Kello Wilson started as a trucker at a young age on Salt Spring Island, where he met his wife, Mary, and had two of their three children.
But John said his dad needed more work to support his growing family, so they moved to Victoria in 1962 and started a general delivery company with one truck.
Kello bought Nu-Way Delivery in 1967 and landed a large contract to deliver merchandise from the new Woolco department store at Town and Country Mall, the current Uptown Centre site.
Kello was also making long-hauls from Woolco’s warehouse in Calgary and eventually bought Town and Country Truck Rentals. He added vans and then school buses after getting the opportunity to do school runs for Victor Brodeur School in Esquimalt.
By 1980, Kello’s company had grown large enough to be incorporated and became Wilson’s Transportation Ltd.
The first highway coaches were added soon after and by the 1990s, the company was running buses all over the Island and province.
The company continues under John and a third generation — operations manager Andrew Wilson, brand manager Samantha Wilson and controller Travis Wilson.
John Wilson said his father was an honest, hard-working man who valued his family and built a good reputation in the community, always having catch phrases that made people smile.
“He really was a kind, nice person,” said John. “The outpouring from the community we’ve had has just been amazing and heartfelt.”
William David Kello Gladstone Wilson is survived by Mary, his wife of 66 years, children Robert, Elizabeth and John, five grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
A service will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 4040 Nelthorpe St., on Jan. 13 at noon. A livestream funeral mass can be viewed at Reception to follow in Sacred Heart Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family said people can make a donation to a charity of their choice.
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