Kirk Albert Walter Wipper, (December 6, 1923 – March 18, 2011) was a Canadian academic and founder of the Canadian Canoe Museum, which is located in

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

. He has been called a "pioneer in the development of outdoor education in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Biography

Wipper was born December 6, 1923, in Grahamdale,

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Canadian Canoe Museum

Wipper formed the Kanawa International Collection of Canoes, Kayaks and Rowing Craft. His collection, which consisted of more than six hundred individual

watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sail, ...

, including kayaks and canoes, became the basis for what would become the Canadian Canoe Museum. In 1957, Wipper was gifted a

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek – ''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (t ...

, which is believed to have been crafted in 1890. Wipper soon began collecting other watercraft, which grew to approximately one hundred fifty pieces by the late 1960s. Wipper constructed a facility to house his collection at Camp Kandalore, a summer camp he owned in the vicinity of Dorset, Ontario. However, his growing collection outgrew this building, necessitating a search for a new facility. Wipper was contacted by a group of individuals, including several affiliated with the

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.

, who were interested in moving his collection to a permanent exhibition space in

. Wipper agreed to the proposal and a board of directors was formed for the project in 1989. In 1994, Wipper donated his entire collection to the new Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough. He remained active in the museum as a volunteer and consultant.

Academic career

Wipper became a faculty member of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

's School of Physical and Health Education in 1950. He worked as an assistant professor at the University of Toronto until his retirement in 1987. Wipper then served as the director of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award of Canada and the President of the

Royal Life Saving Society of Canada The Royal Life Saving Society Canada, commonly known as the Lifesaving Society or LSS, is a Canadian registered charity that works to prevent water-related injuries through various programs across Canada. The Lifesaving Society is an independent ...

following his retirement from academia. Wipper also founded Camp Kandalore in Ontario and co-founded the Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association.

Camp Kandalore

For many years he created and headed up one of Canada's leading camps for boys (girls would later be included in 1992) with canoeing and the outdoors as its primary focus. This is possibly one of his greatest accomplishments because Camp Kandalore set the bar for summer camps in all of Ontario by emphasizing mentorship and skills development while embracing the outdoors and nature as partners in a young boy's journey to manhood. Throughout his years at Kandalore, he led an extensive canoe tripping strategy. However, in the past decades (post 1990's) through separate ownership a focus on in-camp residential experiences emphasizing activities became of greater focus to the camps operation.

Honors

In 2002, Wipper was named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

and the Order of St. John.Ryell, Nora
"Kirk Wipper founded the Canadian Canoe Museum"
' '

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

' ', Toronto, 8 May 2011. Retrieved on 19 September 2014. He was also a recipient of the Ontario Bicentennial Medal and the Government of Canada Centenary Medal. Kirk Wipper died from a choking accident related to

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

while eating dinner with friends and family in Petersborough on March 18, 2011, at the age of 87. He was survived by his wife, Ann.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wipper, Kirk 1923 births 2011 deaths Museum founders Academic staff of the University of Toronto Members of the Order of Canada 20th-century philanthropists