“The ceremony was fantastic,” she said of Tuesday’s dedication of the main atrium at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre (RECC) in David Gilroy’s name. “It was a real tribute to his friends, to his family and to him.”
For 38 years, David was the chief administrative officer for the Town of Truro. His wife said David wanted a facility such as the RECC long before it came to fruition.
“It was all he talked about when he was the town administrator,” Mary said of her husband who passed away in 2008. “He was a sports enthusiast and loved people. He wanted the town to be on the cutting edge.
“He thought the town should have a quality facility for its youth.”
When longtime friend Earl Casey first heard about and saw the preliminary drawings for the RECC, he knew he wanted to do something in David’s memory.
“I thought the atrium was the most appropriate aspect of the centre,” said Casey, who became friends with David when he moved to the area in 1969. “That would be where he would hold court, so to speak.”
Casey started the ‘Friends of David Gilroy Fund’ and was able to raise the $100,000 for the dedication of the atrium in no time.
“David was an upstanding person in the community and at the first of it – when we sent out the letters about the fund – that was raised in a very short time. It wasn’t any work at all,” he said.
While he wasn’t actively participating in sports, David was a huge supporter, according to both his wife and friend, of the Truro Bearcats junior hockey team, of which he was a founding partner, and the Truro Centurions – the swim team his two daughters joined when they were younger.
“If he were here, he would be right over the top for this facility,” said Casey.
“He wouldn’t want any fuss made over himself, he would want to keep everything low key, but he certainly would be very, very appreciative of the whole thing.”
Along with the hockey and swim teams, David was a Boston Red Sox fan, an avid horseman, and served as president at one point of the Truro Golf Club.
“David was very loyal to the town and its people,” said Mary.
Twitter: @TDNRaissa
