Estella Wheeler was a beloved mother, educator and community leader in North York who died in 2024. Now, she has a park in York University Heights named after her.
Brookwell Park was officially renamed Estella A. Wheeler Park, with the renaming ceremony taking place on Sept. 29.
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Her daughter, Tissa Wheeler, described her mother as a teacher “who was living out what she looked like she was destined to do,” and that the “compassion she showed — the commitment to students and young people — was very evident.”
Estella worked at Africentric Alternative School for seven years. The school opened in 2009 to address community concerns about dropout rates and achievement gaps among students of African descent.
Her colleagues initially launched a petition to rename a community garden in her honour, but the City decided to rename a local park instead of a garden, after discussions with Estella’s family and friends. Community members and loved ones shared the petition across Toronto and received over 800 signatures, including ones from Jamaica, where Wheeler was from originally.
For York Centre Coun. James Pasternak, it was an easy decision to ask City staff to create a report and bring the motion to council. Pasternak knew Estella from the school trips to council meetings that she organized for students from Africentric Alternative School, and respected her efforts to highlight civic engagement through hands-on learning.
Reflecting on the renaming process, he said, “You don’t get unanimity very often at city hall between the public service, councillors and the public, but this received unanimous support.”
Estella’s loved ones say the park will be a spot for her former students, family and friends to speak to the late teacher and feel her presence in the neighbourhood.
“It’s more than just a park renaming. It’s remembering her for who she was and the contributions that she left behind for the community, for the young people, for the students, for her former colleagues and everyone,” Tissa said.
“All the work and the passion [from] when she was alive that she brought into our community, all that work and energy that she brought into her life will continue even though she’s no longer here.”
Estella’s former colleague Sam Tawiah, known in the community as Coach T, says she was called the “mother” of Africentric Alternative School. Tawiah also highlighted that Estella started the school’s student council, which led to building connections with city hall.
“Every year, her [students] would have an annual trip to city hall, and they’d meet the local councillor,” he explained. “They got to explore how politics works, and it was a great environment for them [to] see things that they normally wouldn’t be able to.”
Tawiah says Estella was always one of the first teachers to arrive at school, and would regularly take time to pray with Tawiah for his school basketball team to win games.
Estella’s former students continued to honour their teacher years after her death. Estella died at 64, and was allegedly killed by her husband who was charged with second-degree murder.
“When past students come, it’s a true reflection of how wonderful the person is,” Pasternak said. “It’s important to honour people in our community other than politicians with namings.”
Are you interested in renaming a park or area in your neighbourhood?
For anyone interested in requesting a name change for their local park or area in their neighbourhood, Pasternak said, “It’s important to have a local connection, to work with your local city councillor to make the case that that person has contributed to the local community, has made a contribution to the City of Toronto.”
After you’ve made the request to your local councillor and if they agree, they’ll bring the motion to their community council and have City staff build a report around the request. You can find out who your local councillor is on the City of Toronto’s website.
Consider these questions when building your request:
- How long did the person live in the city?
- Where did they work or volunteer?
- What impact did they make in the community? Be specific.
- How many signatures can you collect from community members to support your request?
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