Although I never met Wayne Peace, I went to his funeral on April 5 to lend what little support I could to his wife, Tanya who proved herself to be an extraordinary teacher when she taught an early version of our Hidden Heroes program at Georgia Avenue Community School – She is now Vice Principal at Bayview School.

During the service at a packed St. Andrew’s Church, I learned of a man who has much to teach us all, especially those of us who are fathers and husbands.

Wayne was just 44 when he passed away on the operating room table during open heart surgery to correct damage done by an unusually virulent virus that attacked his heart. Just weeks before his passing, he was an exceptionally active father, husband, athlete (rugby) and Northwest Bay employee where he held several positions over the past 26 years. Most recently he was the charge-hand at the dry land log sort.

Wayne met Tanya at his brother’s wedding. As he was dancing with her, he caught his brother’s eye and gave him the big “thumbs up” behind her back. Two weeks later he told her he was going to marry her and not long after that he did. Seventeen years and three children later, she told us, he always made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world and she knew he was watching every time she walked into a room.

When I heard those comments, I knew I would have liked this guy even if he was a Bruins fan (You had to be there).

No doubt the thing that impressed me most about Wayne was stories about him as a father and husband.

Tom Krall described him as simply one of the best fathers he ever met and he met many during his 35 year career in education. Tanya’s stories iced the cake when she talked about Wayne’s relationship with his sons Charlie, Clayton and Carter.

“Wayne encouraged the boys to always think for themselves,” she said, “and not to be quick to give in to any peer pressure. When there was a family disagreement, he would have the boys hold court with daddy as the judge. Charlie was always the lawyer for the defence and he became very good at learning to come up with an argument and then give reasons as to what the proper judgement should be for their behaviour. The boys enjoyed it but Wayne was doing so much more. By putting them through this process, he was teaching them to make good judgements, to think things through before you act and to be ready to accept your consequences.”

Not every activity with the boys was turned into a serious leaning opportunity; far from it. The community street hockey games were wild and crazy from the sounds of it and the backyard ball games with Wayne as pitcher and play by play announcer were a ton of fun too.

There were times when each of the boys were playing hockey at three different rinks but he’d make sure to see most of one period at each game. He was that kind of dad.

As I listened to the stories, I learned that Wayne had his priorities straight; family first, a highly ethical and responsible day by day effort at work, straight ahead and hard nosed effort on the rugby pitch and good friends and fellowship off the field.

“He was a loyal and caring friend, a loving son, a special brother, but above all, he was a loving father and husband,” Tanya told us.

Should our friends and family think that way about us when we pass on, we will have lived a full and valued life, the life of a Hidden Hero.