Mural commemorates the remarkable Charlie Delorme
Terry Pamplin’s tribute to Yellowknife’s homeless philanthropist has finally found its home.
Five years in the making, Pamplin’s mural on the city’s 48th Street commemorates Charlie Delorme – who gave away large chunks of his $100,000 federal residential school compensation to good causes, despite spending decades on the street.
Delorme passed away in 2013, at the age of 64.
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“He donated money to Stanton Hospital to buy equipment, and to the SideDoor so they could continue their youth-at-risk programs,” Pamplin told Cabin Radio.
“I got concerned while this was all happening. He was suddenly the most popular guy in town, and people were posing in pictures with Charlie beside them.
“I said: This is all well and good but I hope, in a couple of months when he has finished giving away his money and he asks you for a couple of bucks on the street, that you’ll remember that and you’ll give it back to him.”
Pamplin described seeing the mural lifted into place as “like waking up … that dream I had finally came true.”
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