A final farewell to a North Bay sporting legend

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Joan Wilkes was a woman worth an epic life celebration after more than 80 years as a competitive figure skater then a legendary coach with the North Bay Figure Skating Club.

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Joan Wilkes was honoured at Memorial Gardens back in 2018 for her 65 years working with the club and helping generations of skaters learn the artistry and athleticism of the sport that she began in the 1930s.

Wilkes kept coaching for a few years after that milestone was marked.

On Friday a three-hour long celebration of Joan Wilkes’ life drew hundreds to Memorial Gardens Hall of Fame lobby area.

Judy Miron was coached by and coached with Wilkes for many years. Miron says Wilkes’ passing is a “huge loss.”

Miron had glowing praise for her mentor and added they had a special relationship.

“She was a strict lady, but that was okay,” says Miron. “I used to call her the ‘queen’ and she called me ‘princess.’ Even though she (Wilkes) scaled back her coaching she was still involved and at the rink all the time.”

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Wilkes was still on her skates into her 90’s and Miron says ‘queen’ wasn’t the only nickname she earned for her exploits.

“We also called her ‘Miss Christmas’ because every year at Christmastime she would come in with all kinds of gifts that she would hide on us. She brought those gifts in when we were not at the rink (to be opened later).”

Miron stayed in touch with Wilkes right up to her passing in November.

“We talked once about two weeks; we were very close.”

Elizabeth Piper-Beane drove more than two hours on Friday morning to be able to attend the celebration of the life of Joan Wilkes. Piper-Beane says it was important to be in North Bay in person for this final farewell to her former coach.

“When I started skating in Powassan and Joan was one of the coaches here in North Bay,” says Piper-Beane. “As a young girl I ended up coming to North Bay to train with Joan. She was a really inspirational person. When I became a coach, she was a big mentor. Joan was a figure skating stalwart. She loved the sport and really could connect with the kids. Joan also had great training strategies which she put forward for me and so many other kids,” says Piper-Beane who reached out to many of Wilkes’ former students across North America.

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“I wanted to let the entire coaching community know that she passed as she was so important to so many people.”

Sandra Harkness had a daughter who had Wilkes as a figure skating coach and the elder Harkness was on the first precision skating team in the north.

The annual ‘Make it a Date to Skate’ competition was a figure skating season highlight in North Bay for decades. Harkness worked with Wilkes on the setup and operation of that event.

“We were here at Make it a Date to Skate from early morning to late at night for years. She was just a wonderful individual,” says a smiling Harkness.

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