BY KEITH LACEY
One of Sudbury?s most dedicated minor hockey volunteers, Gary Hall, 62, died suddenly Tuesday at the Memorial Site of the Sudbury Regional Hospital following a brief illness.
For the past 30 years, Hall was a dedicated minor hockey coach, manager and volunteer. For the past 22 years he served as a board member of the Sudbury Minor Hockey Association (SMHA). He was SMHA president for three years recently.
Hall also acted as general manager of the Sudbury Northern Wolves of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association (NOJHA) since the team was accepted into the league four years ago.
Hall retired from Inco after 27 years in 1991.
Oscar Clouthier, a former SMHA president, said Hall will be missed.
?If there was anything that needed to be done, Gary was the one who would do it.?
Hall ?loved being around the kids? and while coaching and managing teams was his favourite part of the game, he wasn?t above lending his services at charity bingos and other fundraising events, said Clouthier.
Hall was very young at heart and while he could appear ?gruff? when you first met him, almost every young player he got to know ended up liking him very much, said Clouthier.
?When the kids give you a nickname in hockey it means they really like you and every kid who got to know Gary just called him ?Hallsie? and he loved that,? said Clouthier.
In recognition of his more than 30 years as a minor hockey volunteer, Hall was inducted into the Sudbury Hockey Hall of Fame and recently received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Ontario Hockey Federation.
The regularly scheduled NOJHA game set for Wednesday evening between the Sudbury Northern Wolves and Espanola Screaming Eagles was cancelled following news Hall had died.
Steve Warner, head coach of the Sudbury Northern Wolves, said minor hockey has lost a good man. ?Although he avoided the spotlight, he certainly ran the show with our organization. He got things done and did so much.?
Hall is survived by his wife Aline, sons Jamie of Peterborough and Jason of Garson, his sister Pat Martin and three grandchildren. Funeral prayers will be held today at 3 pm in the R.J. Barnard Chapel at Jackson and Barnard Funeral Home.
