Mr. Speaker, on May 5th, I had the honour of taking part in a ceremony marking the induction of an incredible man into the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame, Thomas J. “Dubby” Duvall. Not only was Dubby a well-known athlete, coach, and league organizer, he was also my great uncle.
The stories of Dubby's contribution to sports in Cambridge are legendary. He was a hockey player, a baseball player, and a professional wrestler. He was a respected hockey coach, with one of his teams capturing the Ontario Hockey Association championship.
Dubby also contributed endless hours helping to organize sports in Cambridge and across Ontario. From 1954 to 1956, he served as president of the Ontario Rural Softball Association and the Ontario rural hockey association, the only person in Ontario to hold both offices at the same time.
One of 18 children born in Thorold, Ontario, Dubby died in 1973, much too young, at the age of 67. It was a great privilege to join Dubby's son and my cousin George, and his wife Susan, to pay tribute to a man who was truly one of a kind and a great Canadian.