OPINION: ‘Thank you, Jim. Goodbye.’

“Do you still have the jacket?” he said with a chuckle.

Those were among the last words I would hear from Jim Hopson before his fight with colon cancer ended this week.

Jim had a knack to make you feel needed, wanted and appreciated and made little gestures to show he saw you and was thinking of you.

I do still have the jacket.

It’s a vintage Vancouver Canucks jacket Jim left me as he was “downsizing,” as he put it, shortly after he went public about his diagnosis of Stage 4 colon cancer.

He was cleaning out some things and came across a jacket he had picked up along the way. You see, I thought he was a Montreal Canadiens fan, but apparently he also had a soft spot for my Vancouver Canucks.

He came to the office one morning and draped the jacket over my chair and left a note. I regretfully missed an opportunity to visit with him as I wasn’t in.

But it is a small example of how he led.

READ MORE:

• Friends, colleagues react to death of former Riders president-CEO Jim Hopson
• Former Roughrider CEO Jim Hopson dead at 73
• Former Rider CEO Jim Hopson honoured by CFL team

Whether it be as his days as a principal and administrator in the education system or whether it was as the CEO and president of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, people were made to feel empowered and important in Jim’s world.

The stories we’ve heard this week are endless on the small tokens of appreciation he sent to random strangers, but they were important to Jim because they were fans of the team or treated him well.

Teachers shared stories of how Jim as an administrator always did what was best for the teachers and especially kids.

Jim’s passion to build communities was clear in his support of extracurricular activities, from sports to band and all things in between.

I lived it, as a student within his school and later school division.

Jim’s story is as much about a career leader as it is in his decade of running the Riders.

But as for that decade, it was truly remarkable.

To shine a light on how remarkable, let’s first consider what we saw in the 10 seasons before his tenure as president and CEO of the Riders and the eight seasons since.

They were 18 years of mediocrity. The Riders had five winning seasons, three home playoff games, zero Grey Cup championships and one Grey Cup appearance.

Now, let’s assess the decade under Hopson’s tenure.

The Roughriders had six winning seasons, five home playoff games, four Grey Cup appearances and two championships (we all know it should have been three). Those two championships doubled the Roughriders’ overall total from two to four.

Oh, and just before the end of his time as CEO and president, ground was broken on the construction of new Mosaic Stadium.

Jim would be the first to pass the credit for the above accomplishments to his staff, players, managers, coaches and the fans.

And he’s right. They were all an important piece.

But all those people will also tell you they were successful because of Jim’s leadership.

His ability to try and help didn’t stop when he was diagnosed with cancer either. After initially keeping the diagnosis private, he eventually saw it as an opportunity to help others.

By sharing his story, he had a mission: To make sure men take their health seriously and get checked and get the early prognosis that he wasn’t fortunate enough to have.

Right to the end, he was thinking of others.

And just like our last conversation, I’ll close with what my final words were to him.

“Thank you, Jim. Goodbye.”