ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Mary Wilson has been a staple at Buffalo Bills home games since 1990. These days, a visit to the stadium often includes a stop at Founders Plaza to see the statue of her late husband, Ralph C. Wilson Jr.
"You know what I love when I come, and there are people here, and they're shaking his hand," Wilson said. "That was the whole object."
Mr. Wilson's statue has welcomed Bills fans to Founders Plaza since 2015. This year, there's a very different backdrop.
The stadium many fans still fondly call "The Ralph" is coming down, and Mary said watching that has been emotional.
"People ask me, 'What are you going to take?' And I say, 'A lot of wonderful memories,'" Mary said.
Mary also took the gold letters dedicated to Wilson on the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame following his death in 2014.
But as one home disappears, another has arrived, and for Mary, the Bills' new home means a chance to make new memories.
WATCH: Mary Wilson reflects on memories, new beginnings as new Highmark Stadium opens
Mary and I walked through the new Highmark Stadium this week, where, for the first time, she saw several tributes acknowledging Mr. Wilson's legacy, including his name back in gold letters on the wall of fame.
"I'm so glad they did it; I didn't know they were doing it," she said. "I love it, I want to cry, I love it."
The new $2.2 billion stadium secures the team's future in Western New York for decades to come. And for Mary, that future is meaningful because it's the future her husband wanted for the team.
Ralph's commitment to Western New York continues beyond the team through the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.
In its first ten years, the foundation has made more than 1,500 direct grants, totaling $1.3 billion, in Western New York and Southeast Michigan. And it plans to invest another billion dollars by 2035. Continuing Ralph's legacy in the two communities he called home.
Mary points to the new Ralph Wilson Park on Buffalo's waterfront.
"People from all walks of life coming together, and that's what Ralph did with the Bills. All walks of life coming together and rooting for the Bills and sitting side by side," she said.
Ralph's legacy lives on in the new home of the Buffalo Bills.
"He would be so proud," Mary said. "He would be so proud of how many have come together to make this happen."
