Paying Tribute to a Legend

It was a warm day in the late summer of 1999, and I rode my bike to Walmart. I had only lived in Brantford for less than a year and only a couple of months in a new job. As I approached Walmart, I turned down Varadi Avenue not expecting anything important to happen. I spotted two men standing in one of the driveways. As soon as the older gentleman turned, I saw his face and it was one I had seen countless times on television, hockey journals and newspapers. It was Walter Gretzky. Even though he was the father of a player I wasn’t a fan of, I still got a bit of a rush to see him. This was the first time I met Walter after moving to Brantford, but it wouldn’t be the last.

When I came to Brantford, I wasn’t sure if I would stay. The two years before leaving my hometown were rough and I was at odds over what exactly I wanted for my life. Finding work coupled with the desire to be closer to my parents, my sister and grandma, who also lived in Brantford, made it an easy decision to stay. A few years later I became the foreman at work. I met my future wife there a year or two after. We began dating in 2004 and decided to save up to buy a home. In 2011, we bought that house, which was in a neighborhood not that far from where Walter lived.

It was another warm summer day when I went down to McDonald’s to get breakfast. When the person in front of me got their order, they moved to the exit and I began to move up to place my order.

“Your usual this morning, Walter?” the guy behind the counter asked before I could say anything.

I looked behind me, and Walter Gretzky stood there smiling.

“This young man was before me,” he replied.

I thanked Walter, placed my order and went home, chuckling to myself about the experience I had just had. It’s a good feeling when a random person will make a kind gesture to you. It might be letting you go in front of them at the grocery store because you have a couple of items compared to their full cart. Maybe it's paying for your coffee at Tim Hortons when they're in front of you in the drive thru. I have experienced these gestures and others in my life, but somehow Walter’s was one that hit me a little differently. It wasn’t because of a star struck feeling, it had more to do with the notion that he probably had many people who want to go out of their way to please him even at the expense of inconveniencing someone who is not a well-known individual. It brought a lot of respect from me that this man had not changed his generous nature despite a bit of celebrity status.

It wasn’t the last time I saw him at that McDonald’s. I spotted him there a few other times and in one incident I was sitting in line at the drive through and he crossed in front of my car, making his way to the entrance. As he walked past, he looked over at me, smiled and gestured as if he recognized me but finally just waved and went about his day. Maybe he remembered me or maybe he was just the kind of person who greeted everyone, whether he knew them or not.

I have a story of a meeting with Walter I only heard about because it involved my parents. I don’t remember the exact details of this meeting, but I remember the general facts of the story. My Mom and Dad were out for dinner, and Walter came into the restaurant. My Dad said hello to Walter, and he stopped to say hello and chatted for a few minutes. He was friendly and complimented my Mom, telling my Dad to take care of her because she was special.

My wife and I were sitting in Shoppers Drug Mart waiting for her prescription. As we sat there, Walter came in, holding a bunch of calendars and the people behind the drugstore counter knew him. He told them he just came in because he wanted to give them calendars for doing a great job. It was another example of the kind nature of a man who not only gave to his family but also cared about the people of his community.

His generosity didn’t stop with random acts. He gave a lot of time and money to various charities. Wayne Gretzky has consistently attributed his success to his father’s hockey drills and strategies growing up. Walter continued to pass on his hockey wisdom by leading youth hockey camps in the summers. The most well-known charity Walter was associated with was the CNIB. Walter had organized an annual golf tournament that raised money for the CNIB and many celebrities from the hockey world and Hollywood were frequent players in these fundraisers.

I’m not actually one to be affected by a celebrity’s death but there are some individuals that cause me to stop and think when they pass. Today I find it one of those times. Walter Gretzky was not family, or a friend, nor was he someone I had known for any length of time. Still, his down to earth nature and his way of making time for the people he met on any given day is someone I sometimes wish I could be more like.

Thanks for being an inspiration for every hockey dad Walter.