MIDALE - The long-time reeve of the RM of Cymri is being remembered for his many years of service to the southeast.
Joe Vilcu, age 68, died in a two-vehicle collision in the Regina area Sept. 27. Vilcu spent 27 years on the RM of Cymri's council, including many years as reeve.
He had previously said he was not going to seek re-election.
Marnell Eagles, a councillor for the RM of Cymri who spent 10 years on council with Vilcu, said he stood by what he believed in, and he was never swayed by someone or pressured.
"That was true with his time on council, or his farming practices or supporting his family," said Eagles. "He would often battle in a conversation about his commitments to his ideas, whether that was in a committee meeting, or at our council table or in personal conversations for that matter."
Eagles noted she and Vilcu had a few verbal battles during their years together on council, but it never once interfered with their friendship.
"Joe had plenty enough years of experience and knowledge to know the direction he would like to lead the table and how to achieve that," she said.
Because of Vilcu's longevity as an RM councillor and then reeve, and thanks to sitting on numerous boards, Eagles said it gave him insight on things to come. Through that understanding of what might come to the RM and surrounding communities, he was their biggest advocate for those projects. One project that came to her mind was a major heavy-haul road that was in disrepair.
"Because of Joe's vast wealth of contacts, he was able to get the jump on the required information and get prepared before others even had their socks on," said Eagles. "For this particular project, we were awarded funding, federally, provincially and locally, leaving the RM of Cymri only to pay one-quarter of the multi-million-dollar project costs. This took time, patience and leadership."
Many times around the table, she recalls discussing funding for certain requests or needs in the RM. Some of these requests or needs were huge, she said. After many hours of conversation and investigation into the matter, Vilcu pulled the trigger to go ahead and achieve that goal.
"On a few occasions, I would look at Joe from across the table and be nervous, but once Joe's motion was made it became a reality. Two of those instances were our new fire hall and assistance for Midale's daycare facility."
"Joe had goals to achieve in his last term in office and he achieved them all," she added.
Eagles said she knew Vilcu very well. They put on thousands of kilometres together over the past decade, going to meetings and conventions, checking roads, keeping tabs on projects in the making and dealing with oil companies. There were many supper functions, a million phone calls after meetings, and when he was working in the field and had time to talk politics.
"I will deeply miss his 'Hey kid, whatta ya know today?' at the beginning of every call."
This past spring at the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention, the RM council and administrator took Vilcu and his wife Janice out for supper to celebrate his last convention. Eagles said they never knew he would never live to enjoy his retirement party in the fall.
"I will miss my friend, my reeve. Thanks for the memories, Joe," she said.
