Terry Fox Run organizer 'battled all the time'

When cancer survivor Roy Bolin received a letter from a young man who had lost his leg to the disease and needed help in a cross-country fundraiser, he didn’t hesitate to organize the Manitoba part of it.

Sadly, Terry Fox wasn’t able to complete his Marathon of Hope in 1980, but Bolin didn’t stop at putting together the provincial part of the run. A year later, he threw himself into organizing the first anniversary events, including setting up the first Terry Fox Run in Winnipeg, as well as dozens of others across Manitoba.

Bolin, who died June 6 at 87, never did meet Fox, who died of cancer June 28, 1981. And Fox’s brother never met Bolin.

However, Fred Fox said without the help of people such as Bolin, both the Marathon of Hope and the annual fundraising runs in the decades since Terry died, wouldn’t have been such a success: hundreds millions has been raised for cancer research.

"It still is like that today, just as it was then," Fred Fox said.

"When we would arrive in communities of all different regions, the volunteers with the Canadian Cancer Society would help plan events. Even after all these years, we rely hugely on volunteers like Roy."

Bolin was born in Winnipeg in 1931, one of eight children, and went to St. Paul’s High School, where his family says he got to know members of the Eaton and Richardson families.

He and wife Sandra had three children, Jennifer, Grant, and Chris.

Sometime in the 1960s, Bolin had his first bout of cancer. In all, he fought cancer seven times, before dying from a heart attack.

The cancer society has no records to confirm it, but family members say Bolin was the longest-living multiple cancer survivor in the country’s history.

Bolin’s eldest son, Grant, said it’s only now, since he turned 50 himself, that he has more of an idea about the challenges his dad faced.

"It seems like he battled all the time," Grant Bolin said. "I don’t know how he could have battled it so often.

"He said he’d had so many needles in his arm there weren’t any veins left."

Chris Bolin said the multiple bouts of cancer, accompanied by the long periods of sickness and recovery, did result in one victim: his parents’ marriage. His parents split up in the early 1980s, and his dad had to keep working until a few years before he died.

"Because of his health, and all of his time off, he continued to work into his 80s," Chris Bolin said. "But he loved engaging in the business community and doing door-to-door calls. And, despite all of his challenges and medical history, he made sure family always came first."

He has the original letter his dad received from Terry Fox.

He said he doesn’t remember much about those days, but he does recall there were plans for the family to meet the one-legged runner when he got to Manitoba and Winnipeg. "Unfortunately, he didn’t get here."

Fox had to stop the east-to-west Marathon of Hope outside Thunder Bay, when cancer spread to his lungs.

Roy Bolin took up the torch, organizing fundraising events in the young man’s memory.

In a Sept. 8, 1981, Free Press article, Bolin said 36 events already had been planned for the first Terry Fox Day on Sept. 13, including five in Fox’s birthplace of Winnipeg, but he thought as many as 48 could be organized by the time the day came.

Bolin also said members of Fox’s family and City of Winnipeg officials would be dedicating the newly created Assiniboine Park fitness trail in honour of Fox on Terry Fox Sunday.

In the article, Bolin said people could participate and raise money in other events beyond running, including a swimathon at the Pan Am Pool, a walkathon beginning in Headingley and ending in the Charleswood neighbourhood, a soccer game organized by CN Rail (workers from its Transcona Shop facing Symington Yard), and a walk in Assiniboine Park.

Bolin said he was encouraging "schools and other interested groups to organize their own events" and to contact the offices of the cancer society for posters and pledge sheets.

In hindsight, he was laying the foundation for the annual Terry Fox Run, right across the province almost four decades later.

Bolin was also a baseball fan. A prized possession was an autographed baseball he personally took around to get autographs from members of the 1961 New York Yankees, including Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Roger Maris.

"He went down with his brother to spring training in Florida," Grant Bolin said.

"Back then, you could walk on the field and shake their hands and get autographs. He got autographs from what they say was the greatest collections of sports talent in history."

Dwight MacAulay, who retired last year as Manitoba’s chief protocol officer, said he met Bolin many times, as he sold items on which the province’s logo could be put on.

MacAulay, who admits Fox is one of his heroes, said they chatted many times about Bolin’s role in the Marathon of Hope.

"He had a lot of good Terry Fox material, so we blew it up for the very first Terry Fox Day at the legislature," he said. "He gave me a copy of the letter Terry Fox wrote to the cancer society.

"Roy was a nice guy and very likeable and soft-spoken. I really commend him for all the work he did on the Terry Fox campaign."

Noting Bolin’s multiple bouts of cancer, Fred Fox said it was people like him that fuelled his brother’s drive.

"He was running for the people who dealt with cancer in many different ways," he said.

"And a lot of the people who helped Terry came because they were cancer survivors. We appreciate what Roy did."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca