| Date of birth: | 1929 |
| Place of birth: | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Date of death: | December 9, 1956 (aged 27) |
| Place of death: | Mount Slesse, British Columbia, Canada |
| Career information | |
|---|---|
| CFL status: | Non-import |
| Position(s): | DE |
| CJFL: | Winnipeg Rods |
| High school: | St. Paul's, Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Organizations | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| CFL All-Star: | 1954, 1955, 1956 |
| Military service | |
| Awards: | 1953 - Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy |
Gordon Henry Sturtridge (1929 – December 9, 1956) was a professional Canadian football player, and was one of 62 people who died on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, on December 9, 1956.[1]
Sturtridge played his entire five-year professional football career as a defensive end for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union, and his #73 jersey is one of eight that has been retired by the club.
Amateur football career[]
Sturtridge played amateur Canadian football in the Canadian Junior Football League, and was a member of the Winnipeg Rods.[2]
Professional career[]
Sturtridge signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders where he starred for four years.[1] In 1953 he won the Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy as best Canadian rookie in the Western Conference (this despite having played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1949).[3] He was a three-time Western All-Star (in 1954, 1955, and 1956), and was on his way back to Regina, Saskatchewan, on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 after playing in the Shrine Game in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 8, 1956.[1]
Death[]
Sturtridge, his wife, Mildred (née Alford), Roughriders teammates, Mario DeMarco, Mel Becket, and Ray Syrnyk, were passengers on Flight 810 with another WIFU player, Calvin Jones, of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.[1] All five players were present at the 1956 All-Star game in Vancouver, British Columbia, and were headed back to their respective teams' home cities. The five players and Mildred were accompanied by 53 other passengers, and 3 crew members who all lost their lives in Western Canada's worst aviation disaster on December 9, 1956, on Slesse Mountain (Mount Slesse) near Chilliwack, British Columbia.[1] The crash is the subject of the 2012 documentary The Crash of Flight 810, part of TSN's Engraved on a Nation series of eight documentaries celebrating the 100th Grey Cup.[4][5][6]
Gordon and Mildred were survived by their three young children who were home in Regina at the time of the crash.[1]
Legacy[]
In 1957, a youth football league in North Vancouver, British Columbia was named in memory of Sturtridge.[1] The Gordon Sturtridge Football League is for players aged 6 to 15.[1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 O'Keefe, Betty (2006). Disaster on Mount Slesse. Caitlin Press. ISBN 1-894759-21-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=uoRGAAAAYAAJ&q=disaster+on+mount+slesse&dq=disaster+on+mount+slesse&ei=qW3-SteRBoqQlQT-z5miDw.
- ↑ "CJFL Alumni in the CFL". footballcanada.com. 2008. http://www.footballcanada.com/useredits/File/CJFL%20alumni.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-14.[dead link]
- ↑ Winnipeg Blue Bombers Alumni Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ McNeil, Shane (November 2, 2012). "Engraved On a Nation: A Family United Through Tragedy". The Sports Network. https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408669. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
- ↑ Beamish, Mike (November 1, 2012). "Fatal 1956 CFL air crash-Engraved On a Nation: Recalling a flight taken, and not taken". The Vancouver Sun. https://vancouversun.com/sports/football/lions/Fatal+1956+crash+Engraved+Nation/7479464/story.html. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
- ↑ "62 Aboard TCA Plane Missing in Mountains Vanishes in B.C. Storm. Pilot Turned Back After Motor Failed.", Winnipeg Free Press (Canadian Press item), December 10, 1956, 3 pp, Official passenger list on p.2
External links[]
| |||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||