Paying it Forward: The William G. Tamblyn Legacy Society

The William G. Tamblyn Legacy Society was launched on October 2, 2015, to celebrate the people who are making postsecondary education possible.  The Legacy Society recognizes donors leaving a gift in their estate to Lakehead University - and connects them to special events, presentations, and seminars throughout the year.  

Legacy gifts - gifts made after one's lifetime - help students of all backgrounds and are essential to ensuring Lakehead University's sustainability.  They can include portions of assets such as savings, investments, real estate, retirement plan benefits, life insurance policies, and personal property.  Every donor is able to choose the specific area their gift will be used to support.  

Fittingly, the Society is named after a man who was passionate about Northwestern Ontario and Lakehead University - our first president, William (Bill) Tamblyn.  Bill was an engineer, businessman, and community leader.  "My father was very energetic and driven by curiosity," says his son David Tamblyn, a current member of Lakehead's Board of Directors.

Between 1965 and 1972, Bill oversaw the establishment and dramatic expansion of Lakehead University.  In a 1966 report to the Board of Governors, President Tamblyn noted:

"Lakehead University was created to fill the void of higher education facilities which was limited the opportunities of young people and indeed the entire potential of Northwestern Ontario for so many years."

Although David was just five years old when his father became Lakehead's president, he has many memories of the early years of the Thunder Bay campus - including its construction.  "I remember a bulldozer sinking into the mud without a trace when the lake behind the Centennial Building was being dug," David says.

Under Bill Tamblyn's leadership, Lakehead transformed from a small college with less than 500 full-time students into a flourishing university with 3,000 full-time students.  Bill's enthusiasm was contagious.  "We saw the school as our seventh sibling," David says.  The Tamblyn's links to the University deepened when David (BA'84, HBA'86, BEd.'88) and four of his brothers and sisters became Lakehead students themselves.  

Before Bill Tamblyn passed away in 2009, he lived to see the opening of a second campus in Orillia, Ontario, and the evolution of Lakehead into a truly comprehensive research university.  His vision of young people being able to study in their own communities had been realized. This is the vision the William G. Tamblyn Legacy Society is building upon.  

Pictured above:  Bill Tamblyn relaxes at home with his son David in 1969.

Already, donors are using legacy gifts in their long-term tax and estate planning to benefit themselves, Lakehead, and the community in life-changing ways.  "That's why," says David, "I believe this new endeavour will become an integral part of Lakehead's future development."

Contact Lee-Anne Camlin at 807-346-7792 or email rlcamlin@lakeheadu.ca to learn more about the William G. Tamblyn Legacy Society.