Wes Rowson was a community man

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/11/2013 (4564 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tick Rowson has nothing but fond memories of his father, Wes, former editor-in-chief of Metro One.

Wes Rowson began his career in 1963, writing for the St. Boniface Courier, which later turned into the St. Vital Lance.

As the community newspaper industry expanded, contracted and consolidated in the 1960s and  ’70s, Rowson was involved throughout, eventually becoming editor-in-chief of the Metro One newspapers in 1983. He continued to work with the community papers until 1994.

“Every time, they kept (Wes) on as editor. Basically, newspapers was what he did,” Rowson said.

Rowson remembered his dad wrote a column called “Question Mark,” a general column about different topics that was read by many people in the community. As a child, Rowson recalled readers constantly approaching Wes to tell him they read his column.

“He would always stop and listen to the people,” Rowson said. “He was a man with many friends. He was very well-liked, he did a lot of stuff for the community and helped people who needed help.”

Wes Rowson’s former boss, former Metro One publisher Brock Cordes, remembers him as a conscientious journalist.

“He really cared about those papers and those people,” Cordes said. “He was very important to all the staff.”

Wes died in 1996 at the age of 72. Tick said he’s frequently told by people he has the same caring nature and generosity as his father.

The younger Rowson said dealing with his dad’s death was tough because they had a close relationship.

“He gave good advice. When I needed to talk, he was there,” Rowson said.

Reflecting on the good times is enough to sustain Rowson’s memories of his father, from remembering his father singing at church on Sundays to his big yellow van.

“(My dad) used to drive a yellow van. I played hockey for years, and he used to pick up half the team. They’d all be phoning me for a ride,” Rowson said with a laugh.

“I was pretty lucky because he was an excellent dad. I didn’t really go without anything in my life.”

 

Facebook.com/TheMetroWPG
Twitter: @metroWPG