Sonia Scurfield, (née Onishenko; September 19, 1928 – June 14, 2018) was a Canadian philanthropist. She was the co-owner of the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey te ...

hockey team from 1985 to 1994. She became the second woman, and the only Canadian woman, to have her name engraved on the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

when the Flames won the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

championship in 1989.

Early life and education

Sonia Scurfield was born on September 19, 1928 to Ukrainian/Russian immigrant parents, John Onishenko and Motia (Stupka) Onishenko. She was educated at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

, graduating in 1949 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

as a lab technician. Afterward, she completed one year at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Ralph T. Scurfield Ralph Thomas Scurfield B.Sc (January 7, 1928 – February 18, 1985) was a Canadian businessman. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nu-West Group Limited (1957–1985), and was an original owner of the Calgary Flames. On Februa ...

, on July 24, 1954, in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

. Together they raised seven children in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

. Ralph Scurfield was part of the original consortium that bought the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

in 1980 and moved them to Calgary, and Scurfield inherited his interest upon his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scurfield, Sonia 1928 births 2018 deaths Businesspeople from Saskatchewan Calgary Flames owners Canadian sports businesspeople Canadian people of Russian descent Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Canadian women in business Ice hockey in Calgary National Hockey League owners Sportspeople from Calgary Stanley Cup champions University of Saskatchewan alumni