| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: 1934 | |
| Place of birth: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada | |
| Date of death: December 9, 1956 | |
| Place of death: Mount Slesse, British Columbia, Canada | |
| Career information | |
| No regular season or postseason appearances | |
| Career history | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Raymond Nicholas "Ray" Syrnyk, (born 1934 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, died December 9, 1956, on Mount Slesse, British Columbia, Canada) was a professional Canadian football player, and was one of 62 people that died on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810.[1]
Syrnyk played professionally for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as a rookie offensive lineman at the time of his death. Syrnyk's No. 56 jersey is one of eight that has been retired by the Roughriders.
Amateur football and college career[]
Syrnyk played amateur Canadian football in the Canadian Junior Football League, and was a member of the 1953 Canadian Junior Football Championship Saskatoon Hilltops.[1]
He was enrolled as a student at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon at the time of his death.[1]
Professional career[]
Following junior league football, Syrnyk signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1956.[1] He was on his way back to Regina on Flight 810 after watching teammates Mel Becket and Gordon Sturtridge play in the 1956 All-Star Game in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 8, 1956.[1]
Death[]
Syrnyk, along with Roughriders teammates, Becket, Sturtridge, and Mario DeMarco, were passengers on Flight 810 with another pro football player, Calvin Jones, of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.[1] All five players were at the 1956 All-Star Game in Vancouver, and were headed back to their respective teams' home cities. The five players were accompanied by 54 other passengers and 3 crew members who all lost their lives in Western Canada's worst aviation disaster on December 9, 1956.[1] The crash is the subject of the 2012 documentary The Crash, part of TSN's Engraved on a Nation series of eight documentaries celebrating the 100th Grey Cup.[2][3]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 O'Keefe, Betty (2006). Disaster on Mount Slesse. Caitlin Press. ISBN 1-894759-21-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=uoRGAAAAYAAJ&q=disaster+on+mount+slesse&dq=disaster+on+mount+slesse&ei=qW3-SteRBoqQlQT-z5miDw.
- ↑ McNeil, Shane (November 2, 2012). "Engraved On a Nation: A Family United Through Tragedy". The Sports Network. http://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. http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/football/lions/Fatal+1956+crash+Engraved+Nation/7479464/story.html. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
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