Bill Vigars, campaign manager for Terry Fox Marathon of Hope, dies at 78

Bill Vigars met Terry Fox in 1980 and served as his PR officer and confidant as the 21-year-old set out with the goal of running across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

Bill Vigars, who led the promotion of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope in 1980, has died at the age of 78.

His wife, Sherry MacDonald, confirmed the news in an interview, saying Vigars died of congestive heart failure on Thursday surrounded by loved ones at a hospital in White Rock, B.C.

She said he fought a “long, tough battle” that began when he had a heart attack in June.

Vigars is survived by his wife, two children, a stepson and one grandson. He will be honoured at a private ceremony of life early next year, MacDonald said.

She said her husband, who she married in 2009, was “full of life, full of mischief, wanted everything to be an adventure, and it was.”

Vigars was the former director of public relations and fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society.

He met Fox in 1980 and served as his public relations officer and confidant as the 21-year-old set out with the goal of running across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

Vigars was by Fox’s side until the tragic end of his journey in Thunder Bay, when Fox learned the cancer that had taken his right leg had spread to his lungs. Fox died on June 28, 1981, at Royal Columbia Hospital in New Westminster, B.C.