His wife pretends to be annoyed about the hockey bag left in the dining room, but she is also pleased her husband, Alex Fex, is still playing hockey three times a week at the age of 82.
Fex and his wife, Erna, have been on a life journey together for more than 60 years.
"We were so young and we just thought we knew everything," Erna told Sudbury.com when we paid the couple a visit recently.
The Fex family lived for many years in Walden before moving to Sudbury.
Erna, a retired teacher, is a freelance writer who often writes about her childhood in Holland. She wrote a memoir, Behind the Green Door, From the Land of Windmills to the Land of the Maple Leaf in 2021.
Fex was a star athlete in his younger days and in 2015 was inducted into the Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame.
The former Walden mayor and town councillor had a long career on staff at Inco Ltd., but after 28 years in the office, he had to take a job underground in order to complete his 30 years before retirement, he said with amusement and a touch of annoyance.
"I wasn't trained. It was a stupid thing for a man who had never held anything but a pencil."
Still in his 50s, when he retired from Inco he had a second career as a real estate agent.
A "people person," Fex said he enjoyed his time in politics and in real estate.
Over the years, the couple travelled across Canada and to Europe, and contributed to their community in many ways.
They are proud of daughters Jacquie, Michelle, Allison, their five grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Eight years ago, Fex was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, but he has many memories of growing up in a French-speaking family.
"He is doing very well," said Erna, who attends a support group for families affected by Alzheimer's.
"I was born on Ontario Street," Fex said. "There were nine children in my family. My father worked at Inco, but he died in the '50s and he never saw me play ball or hockey. I went to Sudbury High School where I played football and hockey, and I pole vaulted.”
When he was 19 , Fex broke a record in pole vaulting at the all-Ontario finals in 1961.
"I couldn't bear to watch him for fear he would break his back," remembered Erna, who attended Copper Cliff High School.
After graduating, Fex studied at Ryerson University in Toronto. He played defence with the Ryerson Rams hockey team when they won the intercollegiate provincial title in 1963.
It was the last time the Ryerson team won a championship. The team was inducted into the Ryerson Hall of Fame in 2012. Fex has been invited several times to play with the alumni team. (Ryerson is now Toronto Metropolitan University.)
Back in Northern Ontario, Fex played semi-pro football, helping the Sturgeon Falls Bombers football team win three straight titles.
Playing fullback for the Sudbury Hardrocks/Spartans for most of the 1960s and through the end of the 1972 season, he contributed to eight Northern Football Conference championship titles and was named league MVP in 1970.
When the Spartans celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2006, Fex told NorthernLife.ca (former name of Sudbury.com) that friendships and camaraderie is what he remembered most from his years with the Spartans.
When he was still in his 30s, Fex was a founding member of the Walden Oldtimers hockey team. These days, he is on the ice Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays playing hockey at the Tom Davies Community Arena in Lively.
"I love that arena. I was chair of the building committee. I have always liked walking in there. It is so different from the other arenas. It is wooden. That makes a big difference," he said.
After many years of work and raising a family, the living is easy now, Fex said.
When asked if he has a philosophy for a life well lived, he has a ready answer.
"I keep busy. And I never lie. Don't have to."
Erna agrees. "He never lies even when he gets in trouble for doing so."
The family is planning a wine and cheese celebration for the Fexes' 60th anniversary at the end of the month.
"We're still together because we like each other," Fex said with a contented smile.
Vicki Gilhula is a freelance writer. Journeys is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
