Tributes

Remembering and celebrating those who give so much to our sport

 

June 2011: Theo Dubois, who celebrated his 100th birthday last month, passed away on June 10.  More info to follow.  See the following link for some background on his achievements.

Feb. 2011: A founding member of the Durham Rowing Club, Rob Millikin passed away on Feb. 14. Rob has been honoured several times by Rowing Canada Aviron for his contributions to the sport and was presented with Centennial Medal last year. More info on the service here.

Sept. 2010: Jimmy Roche Memorial Celebration : The Roche Family and Leander Boat Club will be holding a memorial gathering in honour of the life and accomplishments of the late James "Jimmy" Roche. The gathering will take place on Sunday September 12 between 2 and 4 pm at the Leander Clubhouse located on Leander Drive at the foot of Bay Street North in Hamilton. All are welcome. It will be helpful if those who intend to attend would confirm their intention via email to Leander's President at: justicerow@cogeco.ca

May 2010: Obituary for James Patrick "Jimmy" Roche. Jim began his rowing career at Leander in 1948. Through the 1950s he was one of Canada's most distinguished and decorated lightweight scullers. With Conrad Andreychuk he represented Canada in the double at the 1959 Pan American Games. His greatest contributions to our sport were as a head coach, mentor and inspiration to at least three generations of Leander oarsmen and oarswomen including Olympians and World Champions Al Morrow, Jim Walker, Mel Laforme, Andy Crosby, John Wallace and Joe Stankevicius. He was a vital and active member of Leander's executive right up to the end of his life.

Apr. 2010: Obituary for Dr. John Stewart, who was a founding member and past president - of Ridley Graduate Boat Club. His son, Willie, continues to be a member of the club and keeps strong ties to the school.

Nov. 2009:  Obituary for 1956 Olympic Rower Philip Kueber. The crews for which Mr. Kueber rowed have been inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame, the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Amateur Sports Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.

Sept. 2009 : Former National Team rower John Ross passed away this month. He is the fourth crew member of the 1968 Olympic eight to pass away before his time. Ross died suddenly - of natural causes -  at his home in Sonoma, California.  A service was held in Sonoma, where a resolution was passed by Town Council acknowledging the contributions that he had made to the community over the years.

July 2009 : John "Munch" MacIntyre died of a heart attack recently. He rowed with Neil Campbell at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and was a coach for years at Ridley and the St. Catharines Rowing Club.
A service will be held at Ridley on Wednesday, August 5th. 1 pm funeral in the Memorial Chapel, 2 pm reception for friends in the Great Hall. John is resting at Butler Funeral Home on Duke Street; visitation Tuesday August 4th, 7-9 pm.

July 2009 : G. Barry Thompson passed away on Monday, June 29th, 2009. Barry was a founder of Fredericton Rowing Club and a professor at UNB in Phys Ed (as it was then). A memorial gathering will be held on Sunday, July 5th from 2 - 4 p.m. at the Atrium, Student Union Building , UNB Campus in Fredericton.

March 2009: Bill Bunston, a past president of the Canadian Henley Rowing Corporation and a past president of the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association, passed away on March 12.

February 2009: Frederick Graves, 1948 Olympic rower for Canada and Ottawa Rowing Club member, died on Feb. 11.

January 2009:  CODY, Maurice Patrick "Moe" - 72, Halifax, passed away January 4, 2009. Born in Kirkland Lake, Ont., he was the eldest son of the late Maurice Patrick Leo and Elizabeth (O’Neill) Cody. Moe grew up in Brockville, Ont. He was blessed with a sharp wit, beautiful singing voice and great athletic skills. Moe received a rowing scholarship to Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where he received a BA. He also studied at the International Summer School in Oslo, Norway, and Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. He worked in Public Relations for the government of Nova Scotia.
Moving to Nova Scotia in the 1970’s he was involved in many organizations including the Provincial Rowing Association, the Provincial Liberal Party, and many Sport Trivia Contests. Rowing was his passion. He was a well respected athlete, coach, administrator, builder, and official for which he  received many national awards, including Rowing Canada's Centennial Medal, The Award of Merit, and long service award.  In 2008 Moe was inducted into the Brockville Sport Hall of Fame.  He is survived by wife, Mary, of Halifax; daughter, Karin Cooper; son, Patrick and other family members.

December 2008: Rowing Canada Aviron remembers Bent Jensen: Olympic lightweight men's coach.  Jensen passed away on Dec. 09 in his native Denmark. Jensen came to Canada to coach at the National level in early 2006 and led his lightweight four to a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. His coaching resume spanned more than 30 years and included the Danish lightweight four's Olympic gold (1996), silver (2000) and gold again (2004). In 1998, he was named FISA (World Rowing Federation) Coach of the Year.
Jensen was also known for putting his athletes first and providing them with an ideal environment to win medals. More here.

September 2008: Row 2k's Tribute to Olympic team staff member Emil Kossev who died Sept. 15, 2008

May 2008: MORREALE, James Patrick, DDS Died peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, at Henderson General on May 6, 2008, after a tough battle with cancer. Jim graduated from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Dentistry in 1961 and practised in Hamilton for 45 years. He was elected to the Hamilton Wentworth Separate School Board in 1970 and served for 22 years. He also served on the boards of many organizations including, Catholic Youth Organization, Children's Aid Society, Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton Philharmonic, Opera Hamilton and Hamilton West Liberal Association. Jim was the president of the Leander Boat Club, coached St. Mary's High School rowing for 13 years, and was honoured as Hamilton Amateur Coach of the Year in 1999. Jim passionately championed the advance of geriatric dentistry; he founded St. Peter's Hospital Geriatric Dental Unit; served on the Faculty of the University of Toronto School of Dentistry, and was a lecturer at McMaster University School of Medicine, and Faculty of Physical Education.  Visitation at the FRISCOLANTI FUNERAL CHAPEL, 43 Barton Street East (near James), Hamilton, on Saturday and Sunday 2-4 and 6-9 p.m. with vigil prayers Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Funeral Mass will be offered on Monday, May 12, 2008, at St. Joseph's Church, 260 Herkimer St. at Locke, Hamilton, at 10:30 a.m.  friscolantifuneral@cogeco.ca

May 2008: MARTIN, William Patrick 'Bill' — Passed away on Monday, April 28, 2008, in the Camp Hill Vet­erans' Memorial Building, QEII, Halifax. Bill was born January 29, 1915. He was a lifelong resident of Armdale and was at home on the waters of the Northwest Arm and Atlantic Ocean. He served his country during the Second World War as a wireless operator in the Royal Canadian Navy, on ships including the HMCS Restigouche, and later worked for Customs Canada. Bill had a passion for sports - especially rowing, paddling, hockey and sailing. He could be seen sculling his rowing shell on the waters of the Northwest Arm into his mid eighties. Bill worked for Customs Canada..... Bill returned to the sport of rowing in the 1980s and helped revive the Halifax Rowing Club. Throughout his life, Bill competed and won many rowing regattas such as Cogswell Harbour Champi­onships in the 1930s, and would later compete at the Head of Charles River Regatta in Boston, Mass., in his seventies. Donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia. E-mail condolences to: condolences.snow@ns.aliantzinc.ca

April 30, 2008: Brentwood names a boat after National Team rower Malcolm Howard .

Feb. 14, 2008: Sadly, Mooner (George Manoogian) - a great supporter of RCA and rowing in general - passed away on Feb. 14. George was a fixture in St. Catharines for nearly 70 years. He was a pioneer in being one of the first to recruit and coach women in rowing. He was an official for many years at Royal Canadian Henley and CSSRA and above all he was a boatman who maintained and rigged rowing shells for countless years so that athletes could enjoy the sport. He was boatman for the national team (in three Olympics, Montreal, Los Angeles and Seoul, South Korea as well as at the Pan Am games and World Rowing events at different venues) as well the St. Catharines Rowing Club. No one who needed his help was ever refused, whether it was a new club struggling to get started or a visiting crew at a regatta with equipment problems or a competing crew at an international regatta.
His many years of service dedicated to the sport of rowing will be missed.

Mooner's family will receive their friends at the GEORGE DARTE FUNERAL CHAPEL 585 Carlton Street, on Sunday, February 17th, 2008 from 2-4 & 7-9p.m. A celebration of Mooner's life will be held in the funeral home on Monday at 12:30pm.The family encourage donations to The St.Catharines Rowing Club or Hospice Niagara in Mooner's memory. "When I come to the end of the road, and the sun is set for me, I want no rites in a gloom-filled room,why cry for a soul set free? Miss me a little, but not too much, and not with your head held low. Remember the joy and laughter we shared and lovingly let me go."- MOONER
Feb. 2008: Bud Malmo of Kenora passed away peacefully on February 1, 2008 . He was a long-time member of the Kenora Rowing Club and dedicated much of his time to coaching and building a sport for which he had a true passion. Bud helped found the Ontario Rowing Association, with which he was involved from 1969 to 1984, serving as a local representative, vice-president, and president, and was also involved with Rowing Canada, serving as vice-president for several years.

Dec. 05, 2007: Globe and Mail obituary for Jake Gaudaur , former rower and head of the CFL

Oct. 2007: Notice about an evening in honour of Jim Minards for his 58 years of dedication to the sport of rowing on November 9, 2007.

Oct. 13, 2007: Dennis Bigford recently passed away - he was involved with the rec rowing program in St. Catharines, Ont. and was a RCA Umpire for the last several seasons. Dennis will be resting at George Darte Funeral Home, Tuesday Oct. 16, 2-4 pm & 7-9pm funeral service will be at 11:00 am; Wednesday Oct 17 at the Funeral home.

Sept. 10, 2007: Douglas Marshall of the Brockville Rowing Club passed away this morning - Sept 10th. Online condolences can be left at www.irvinefuneralhome.com . Visitations: Thursday, September 13, 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm; Friday September 14, 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm.
Church Service, Parish of St Lawrence (Trinity Anglican Church), 137 George Street. Brockville, Ontario to be held Saturday Sept. 15, 2007 at 11.00 am. More in this article from the Brockville Recorder .

August 23, 2007: Rowing supporter Grant Dobson died suddenly this week. His efforts were instrumental in upgrading the Henley course prior to the 1999 world championships, as well as the successful bid to land the international regatta. Most recently he was part of the bid group trying to lure the FISA World Rowing Masters Regatta to St. Catharines in 2010. He is survived by his wife, Laura, and daughters, Kate and Kimberly. The family will receive visitors at James L. Pedlar Funeral Home in Fonthill Friday (Aug. 24) from 6 to 9 p.m. The family will hold a private service at a later date. Official obituary is here .

June 26, 2007 : Obituary for Bob Christie - former National Team manager and valued rowing volunteer

June 2007 : A poetic tribute to rowing supporter Peter Copland (pdf) by men's coach Mike Spracklen

May 2007: Glen Davis - a great loss to the rowing community.

May 2007: The rowing community has lost one of its greats - Claude Saunders. More in this article and read this heartfelt eulogy.