Remembering those we lost in 2020

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/01/2021 (1979 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The New Year is the time to remember those Manitobans with a sports connection who died during the previous 12 months.

The list is long, but an effort is made to include as many as possible. A place to start is with the individual honoured members of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and the players and builders from teams inducted in the shrine.

Isny (Johnson) Gallimore was 101 when she passed in late November. A multi-sport athlete who was inducted in 1996, her best sports were softball and five-pin bowling. Elfriede Goermann, a 1987 builder inductee, was an integral part of Manitoba’s artistic gymnastics community and an international coach and judge. A 1994 builder inductee, Peggy Colonello served as president of both the Manitoba and Canadian ladies golf associations. In 2003, she was an inaugural inductee into the provincial golf HOF.

A top table tennis player who became an international administrator, in 2013 Art Werier became the first inductee from that sport. Werier also was a founder of the Manitoba Sports Federation. In 2015, Dr. Gordon Cumming was recognized for his sports medicine career and his speed skating contributions which included serving as the longtime president of the provincial association. A 2009 inductee, Roy Williams was a basketball star at the University of Manitoba and with Paulins and the U Grads; he played for Canada in the 1952 Olympics.

The team member inductees we lost from basketball include Mike Skwark, who played for Stellars when they won the Canadian junior title in 1950 and 1951, and George Birger, the athletic director of the 1987, ’88 and ’89 Brandon University Bobcats.

Tom Brisson played for the 1954 Canadian intermediate football champion Winnipeg Rams, and Peter Sawchuk was a player and assistant coach. Ed Danylchuk was with the Canadian junior champion Winnipeg Rods in 1955 and 1956. Jack Delveaux was a star linebacker for three Blue Bombers teams honoured by the HOF.

From the soccer world, Dave Kerr played for the 1970 national champion Manitoba Selects. Ernie Boushy skipped the mixed curling teams that won the Canadian title in 1964 and 1967. He was also an honoured member of the Manitoba Baseball HOF.

Winnipeg Jets great Dale Hawerchuk entered the Sports HOF as an individual in 2013. Hockey team members who died in 2020 included defenceman Cam Millar of the 1946 Canadian junior champion Winnipeg Monarchs, who also played football for the Bombers; Bill Burega of the 1956 Western Hockey League champion Winnipeg Warriors, and George Butterworth of the 1965 Canadian university champion U of M Bisons. Ron Farnfield and Lou Joyal were forwards on the 1964 Canadian senior champion Winnipeg Maroons. Joyal was also inducted into the Manitoba Hockey HOF as an official.

Hockey HOF honouree Cliff Pennington, who was an outstanding multi-sport athlete in his youth, starred for the junior Flin Flon Bombers and played for Canada in the 1960 Olympics and later in the NHL. Mike Yaschuk, who was inducted in 1990, played junior and senior in Winnipeg and a season in England. He coached minor hockey in Norwood and was a co-founder of the successful St. Boniface Mohawks senior team. Among the ex-pros who passed were Bill Bond, Wally Gacek, Jim Hargreaves, Joe Kaiser, Wayne Kitchen, Dave Mazur and Ed Ruml. A list of more than 50 hockey people who died in 2020 can be found in The Final Face-Off column on the Hockey HOF website at www.mbhockeyhalloffame.ca

Dr. Norm Hill played for the Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders in 1948 and three seasons with the Blue Bombers. Known as one of the Touchdown Twins during his junior football days with the Rods, Paul Cholakis was a Bomber in 1949 and 1950. Ron Kelly spent 1953 to 1956 with the Bombers and then three seasons with Calgary and two with Saskatchewan. Gene Lakusiak played in Bombers defensive backfield from 1968 to 1974. Butch Krochak coached the Maples Marauders to their first high school football championship in 1994. After a playing career that included time with both the junior and senior Mustangs, Ralph Milani coached at Grant Park and Oak Park high schools.

Curling historian Rick Mutton always provides a list of curling people who are no longer drawing the button. The Manitoba Curling HOF lost honoured members Shirley Bray and Zivan Saper. Helen Alm, Don Atkinson and Jack Hume were association honorary life members. The provincial champions included Russ Amy, Les Hooper, George Lowe, Simone Rivard, and Ada Sulkers. In 1958, Jack Van Hellemond curled lead for Manitoba in the Canadian men’s championship. The next season the Daniel McIntyre team he skipped competed in the Canadian high school championship.

On the curling ice, Donna Brownridge won Canada Games gold and a provincial women’s championship. In golf, she competed for Manitoba teams in western and national championships and served as the only female president of the Elmhurst club. Doreen (Matheson) McNeill won two cars in the Charleswood Little Car Bonspiel and was a longtime figure skating and golf volunteer. Sam Doherty curled for the Manitoba team that won the Canadian senior men’s championship team in 1987 and played baseball for the Neepawa Cubs team inducted into the provincial baseball shrine.

Memories of Sport appears every second week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. Kent Morgan can be contacted at 204-489-6641 or email: sportsmemories@canstarnews.com