It was a final farewell in February 2017 that proved homelessness wasn’t an issue or a cause — it was a person, on that day inside Calgary’s Hillhurst United Church.
Pews were full of people from all walks of life to honor Paul Wilkinson, affectionately nicknamed Smokey.
Wilkinson was homeless. He died following a battle with addiction on Jan. 8, 2017. He was 52 years old.
Those who knew him best said he was a man who had the power to blur the lines between privilege and poverty.
John Pentland is the minister at Hillhurst United.
“When I look back at my ministry of 30 years, that is the funeral I stepped back, looking at the congregation, see this diverse group of rich, poor, homeless, gay, straight, every different color, every different economic status in one room,” Pentland said.
In the hours after Wilkinson’s celebration of life, friends talked about an idea to have something in the city named in his honor.
“Smokey was gregarious and funny, serious and passionate,” Pentland said. “Sometimes he was drunk and sometimes he was sober. We never knew what we were going to get.
“He lived with a struggle. Despite that, he had a kind compassionate heart.”
He was a man who had little but so much to give. Friends described him as a generous soul who panhandled to survive but also gifted his money to children, urging them to pay it forward.
Friend Bryce Paton said he was a character, but complicated.
“There’s days I wanted to smack him but then there were nights I would go looking for him because I was worried about him,” Paton said. “His memory lives on in our hearts.”
Paton said he applied to the city to have a park named after him.
“One of his street buddies, Patrick, planted the idea. On June 2021, council and mayor announced greenspaces including Paul ‘Smokey’ Wilkinson park. What a happy day,” Paton said.
The place he sometimes slept, bordering Memorial Drive, will now forever bear his name.
“It was labeled HL494 and I thought it’s perfect. This is Smokey’s hood and I’m sure he laid on his back staring at the stars many a night,” Paton said.
“He was the king of Kensington in a lot of ways. This park was probably the place he put up a tent or some cardboard or laid down,” Pentland said.
“What I love is we are recognizing people on the street are people and they all have stories.”
“I could see Paul with his Johnny Cash shirt on and coming here and putting his head against the rock just daydreaming,” Pentland said.
This Thanksgiving weekend, after the Sunday service, the congregation is invited to mark the official commemoration.
Paul’s sisters who lost touch with him over the 52 years of his life will travel to Calgary from their home in Ontario to attend the celebration.
“What a wonderful weekend to think of the things we are grateful for,” Paton said.
“This is a place for reflection and a place to give thanks to the diversity of humanity,” Pentland said.
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