From the Guelph Mercury - April 20,2011

GUELPH — Wellington County watchdog and community activist Bill Manderson’s booming Scottish brogue has been silenced. Manderson, 74, succumbed to cancer late Tuesday night at St. Joseph’s Health Centre with his two daughters and son at his side and a photo of his late wife on the bedside table.
For the past decade -- until his health turned last fall -- Manderson was a constant presence at Wellington County council and committee meetings. He also ran a blog – smelly-welly.com – on which he often railed against county officials. That landed him in hot water, after former Puslinch Mayor Brad Whitcombe and county CAO Scott Wilson filed a libel lawsuit against him in an effort to have certain material excised from the website.
A year ago, Manderson claimed he could prove certain allegations of wrongdoing and said he was looking forward to trial. The allegations that gave rise to the litigation never were proven in court and the case never progressed to a trial.
Scott Manderson was not surprised by his dad’s late-in-life activism. “He was passionate about what he did and those who didn’t share that passion certainly could feel his wrath,” Scott Manderson said. “It all came from genuinely caring about what he believed in. “He’s been like that his whole life.”
William Smith Manderson was born the first of six children in Dundee, Scotland. He became an engineer and married his teenage sweetheart, Daphne. Manderson’s work as an engineer brought the couple to North America, where he ran manufacturing plants in New York State, Kentucky and eventually Ontario. Manderson settled in the Guelph area after Daphne was killed in 1994 when her car was hit by a 19-year-old drunk driver in Kentucky. His recent foray into community activism began in 2001 after a residents’ group he headed filed a lawsuit against Puslinch Township seeking permission to reside year-round in a mobile home park. That suit was ultimately dropped, and a subsequent one against the owner of the park found Manderson’s group on the losing end. But he later said going through that process caused him to unearth information which troubled him, and he set about sharing his concerns widely.
“I think he’s always been part of my county council experience,” county Coun. Jean Innes said Wednesday, noting when she was trying to decide whether to run for county council several years ago she went to a meeting “and he was there speaking as a delegation.”
“He was quite a character,” Innes said. “Often when I was dealing with him I thought he was the sort of man who founded Ontario – a loud, Scottish, bombastic, single-minded type of fellow.”
Scott Manderson said while that was indeed his father’s public persona, he will remember a quieter, more caring man. “He was a good man,” Scott Manderson said. “He was a good father, a good husband and a good friend. He really cared about his community.”
County Coun. Lou Maieron said he “will miss his wit and sarcastic humour. “He really did enlighten me to the ways of the world,” Maieron said. “I’m going to miss him.”
Former Erin Mayor Rod Finnie said Manderson was not always correct in his assertions “but he always made you think about what you were doing. “He was a pain not just in the side but in the backside as well,” Finnie said with a laugh, “but at the same time he was someone who really believed in what he was doing. “I wish more citizens showed that level of civic engagement,” Finnie added.
Scott Manderson said his father’s body will be cremated and the family will have a private gathering to spread his ashes.
“He wouldn’t have wanted a big send-off.”