Former City of Casey mayor and long-time community figure Rob Wilson is recovering after suffering a significant stroke just before Christmas, with family saying he is slowly improving day by day.
Mr Wilson, 81, had a stroke on 7 December, which impacted his cognitive functions, mainly his memories.
His daughter Lisa Wilson said the past few months had been challenging, but the family has been encouraged by signs of progress in his recovery.
“He’s getting better and better every day,” she said.
“He has good days and bad days. He’s getting there.”
Doctors have told the family recovery could take months, and Mr Wilson is still undergoing assessments to better understand the impact of the stroke.
Despite some ongoing memory difficulties, he has begun recalling conversations and reconnecting with people and places that shaped his life.
Recently, a visit to the Narre Warren South Cricket Club stirred strong emotions and memories.
“My brother David took him there, and it was almost eerie how much he remembered,” Lisa said.
“He was able to hold conversations and talk about things again.”
For decades, Mr Wilson has been a familiar name across Narre Warren and the wider Casey region.
First encouraged by local councillor Ray Bastin, he ran for council in the early 1980s and went on to serve for about 20 years, eventually becoming mayor in 2004, a moment his family says was one of his proudest achievements.
Mr Wilson helped organise the long-running Christmas Carols by Twilight, which began in the mid-1970s and grew into a major community gathering attracting thousands of people each year.
He championed grassroots sport, pushing for better sporting ovals and helping local clubs raise funds, often selling raffle tickets for donated “meat trays” to support teams.
Outside the council and his community life, Mr Wilson spent more than three decades as a teacher, inspiring generations of students with his love of history.
That passion extended beyond the classroom. A keen historian, he has written extensively about family and local history and has contributed research to historical societies in the region.
Mr Wilson was also deeply involved in local cricket, playing for and later helping lead the club that would become Narre South Cricket Club. He scored more than 3,000 career runs and later served as a coach, captain and vice-president.
“I think really the crunch of dad is all about bringing people together,” Lisa said.
“That’s just given him personal pleasure in himself without ever asking for anything in return. He’s always had a willingness to reach out, help, and bring people together.
“Everything that he’s done has always been from the goodness of his heart. But sometimes they’re backflipped and have opposition.”
Mr Wilson was also remembered as an incredibly active figure in the community, often walking long distances around Narre Warren and Berwick.
Family members said it was common for him to walk between five and 10 kilometres a day, sometimes trekking from Narre Warren South to Berwick’s main street just to visit family or friends.
Mr Wilson had undergone knee surgeries about a decade ago. Despite the significant pain and the struggle after the surgery, Mr Wilson continued to push himself physically. His family now draws parallels between that recovery and his current fight to regain mental strength after the stroke.
“You look at his knees. He’s had both of his knees done, and it’s walking a little bit more and a little bit more resting — walking, resting, walking — until one day he can walk 10 kilometres,” Lisa said.
