[Tracy] Wilder, who arrived at St. John’s Ruskin campus in 2001, experienced an abrupt and unexpected role reversal in September. The man who spent his life caring for others learned he had leukemia. Enduring months of intensive chemotherapy, he became reliant on nurses and doctors, on the love of his wife and the kindness of parishioners.
Though hopeful his cancer may go into remission, Wilder, 67, announced in March he is retiring from St. John.
“It’s no fun,” he said. “There is a terrible sense of loss. It’s painful. But I can look back on the last 12 years and feel good about a lot of things.”