Clarence Gordon Perry Sr. (March 18, 1903 – September 19, 2003) was a star football player in the

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues. T ...

(predecessor to the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

's (CFL) East Division) for the

Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers The Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers were a Canadian football team and a member of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League. The team existed from 1872 to 1935. The Montreal AAA sponsored the Montre ...

. He was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

in 1970 and into the

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

in 1975. A multi-sport athlete, Perry was also a life member and past president of the

Ottawa Curling Club The Ottawa Curling Club is an historic curling club located on O'Connor Street (Ottawa), O'Connor Street in the Centretown, Ottawa, Centretown neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is the oldest curling club in Ottawa, established in 1851 ...

. Since 1961, the club has held the year-ending "Gordie Perry Bonspiel" in his honour. Perry won the "Royal Jubilee" curling title in 1953 using iron stones, and then won the title again in 1956 using granite. He was also the past president of the Governor General's Curling Club. He was the skip of one of the two Ottawa Curling Club rinks that won the

Quebec Challenge Cup The Quebec Challenge Cup ( French: ''Coupe challenge Québec'') is a curling challenge trophy. It has been continually contested since 1874, and is thought to be the oldest competitive sport trophy in North America, and the second oldest amateur ...

in 1957. Perry, nicknamed the "Galloping Ghost" also played baseball.''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

, 30 Dec 2000, pg S12, "Peace, parting and returns" He played centre-field in the Montreal City Baseball League, where he was a two-time batting champion and led the league in stolen bases five times.

Personal life

Perry worked for the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...

, and lived on Billings Avenue in

Alta Vista, Ottawa Alta Vista is a neighbourhood in Alta Vista Ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its boundaries according to the Alta Vista Community Association are that part of Alta Vista Ward south of Smyth Road in the north, north of Walkley Road and east of t ...

and had three children. In addition to football, curling and baseball, he also boxed, swam, did track and field and badminton.

References

1903 births 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Moncton Players of Canadian football from New Brunswick Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian men centenarians Curlers from New Brunswick Curlers from Ottawa {{Canadianfootball-runningback-stub