Honouring Dr. Marvin Brent Wray

BARRHEAD - A group of Barrhead area residents are one step closer to having the town's all-wheel skatepark named after a former long-time local doctor Marvin Brent Wray.

On Feb. 11, the group hosted a fundraiser roast/dinner at the Seniors' Drop-in Centre to honour Wray, raising about $40,000 towards their goal of $100,000 needed to name the park after him.

Dr. Marvin Brent Wray served the community as a family doctor and emergency physician in Barrhead for 41 years before retiring. He passed away in November 2019 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 70.

The group, headed by Barrhead pharmacist Rita Lyster, want to name the skatepark after Wray, specifically for his work with youth in the community, both as a family doctor who specialized in obstetrics, helping to bring in hundreds of babies into the world, but youth sports, most notably hockey.

MC Steve Lyster said Wray was a private man who shied away from accolades or acknowledgements.

He noted that when Wray passed away, it was his public wish that there would be no funeral service.

"I'm a bit surprised that this place hasn't been struck by lightning," Lyster joked.

But despite being a private man, Lyster said, he was very generous in sharing his time, talents and treasures and whose legacy will be firmly cemented in Barrhead.

"And that is what we are trying to do, to "literally cement" his legacy as part of the all-wheel park," he said.

Wray, who grew up in Rocky Mountain House, came to Barrhead in 1978, fresh out of the University of Alberta. A year later, he would Bonnie, his long-time partner, a registered nurse.

"He was a loving and devoted partner to Bonnie," he said, noting the pair met a year after he came to town. "She was walking home from the hospital, where the old United Church used to be when she heard this car coming." 

The driver, of course, was Dr. Wray, "who was sniffing around to find out who the new nurse in town was."

Lyster then invited members of the audience to share their memories of Dr. Wray, including a story about when one of his children was born. 

"I was in the delivery room, trying to calm my wife, who was screaming in agony because of a contraction, when Dr. Wray, possibly to distract us, starts telling us a story about his cats, or one of his cars, or one of his other passions," he said.

Well-deserved kudos

Peace River – Westlock MP Arnold Viersen noted in a letter that it did not take long for Wray to become an integral part of the community and people's lives.

"He was a trusted obstetrician who brought many children into this world safely, including our first daughter, Aliyah," he said. "And although he is no longer with us his legacy lives on."

Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken said that Wray's impact on his family's lives was immeasurable as he delivered four of his and his wife Barb's five children.

He specifically related how his unique bedside manner during the delivery of their third child, put them at ease.

"He had the skill and ability that made us very comfortable, and we knew we were in good hands," van Dijken said.

However, he said as important as his skill and abilities as a physician, it was Wray's commitment to the community that made him special.

"Individuals who come into a community and invest themselves wholly are few and far between these days. Dr. Wray was not only a professional man, but a neighbour, a friend, someone we could rely on year in and year out," he said. "The community has done well by him, and I hope the community will do well by him by remembering his contributions to this community."

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com