John Percy Page (May 14, 1887 – March 2, 1973) was a Canadian

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach, provincial

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, and the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

Early life and education

Born in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, the son of Absalom Bell Page and Elizabeth Thomas, he moved with his family in 1890 to

Bronte, Ontario Bronte is the community that makes up much of the west end of Oakville, in Ontario, Canada. Twelve Mile Creek (known informally as Bronte Creek) flows through the middle of town and empties into Lake Ontario. Main roads include Bronte Road (nort ...

. He attended Oakville Junior High School, Hamilton Collegiate Institute, Ontario Normal School, and Queen's University. He received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from Queen's University, and a Bachelor of Commercial Science degree from the American Institute of Business. In 1906, he accepted a teaching position at Rothesay Collegiate in

Rothesay, New Brunswick Rothesay () is a suburban town located in Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada. Located within Saint John's metropolitan area, it borders the town of Quispamsis to form the Kennebecasis Valley and is located along the lower Kennebecasis River. ...

. In 1907, he switched to the St. Thomas Collegiate Institute where he taught until 1912. In 1910 J. Percy Page married Maude Roche, daughter of Gilbert Roche, of St. Thomas, Ontario. They had one daughter: Patricia Hollingsworth. In 1912 Percy took a position in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

to introduce commercial training into the Edmonton high school system. Before retiring from teaching in 1952, he would be a

Principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

at two Edmonton high schools.

Coaches Edmonton Grads

While at the McDougall Commercial High School in 1914-15 he was the coach of the senior girls'

team. He continued to coach the same girls after graduation on a team that became known as '' The Edmonton Grads''. The team under his tutorship would become one of the most successful teams of all time in sport, winning 502 of 522 games, for a winning percentage of .961, and winning all 27 Olympic matches
they played in the Summer Olympics, Olympics in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. However, women's basketball was not an official Olympic sport until 1976. In 1955, he was inducted into

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 ...

as a basketball builder.

Political career

In the 1940 Alberta election, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

in the

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

electoral district as a member of the

Independent Citizen's Association The Alberta Unity Movement, also known as the Independent Movement and later the Independent Citizen's Association, the People's League, was a political movement and lobby group in Alberta, Canada formed in 1937 in an attempt to unite the oppositi ...

, an anti-Social-Credit alliance of Conservatives, Liberals and others, of which he was a leading member. He was re-elected in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

. From 1945 to 1948, he was the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. He was defeated in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, but was elected in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

as a Progressive Conservative. In 1952, he was appointed House Leader for the Progressive Conservatives. He was re-elected in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. He lost re-election in

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. From 1957 to 1959, he was also a trustee of the Edmonton Public School Board. In 1959, he was appointed

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the representative in Alberta of the monarch. The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the mona ...

and served until 1966.

Honours

In 1961, he was made a Knight of Grace of the

Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem Most or Möst may refer to: Places * Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria * Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic ** Most District, a district surrounding the city ** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city ** Autodrom Most, moto ...

. In 1961, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. The J. Percy Page School in Edmonton is named in his honour.

References

External links

John Percy Page
at ''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

''
FrozenHoops.com
History of basketball in Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Page, John Percy 1887 births 1973 deaths Independent Alberta MLAs Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs American emigrants to Canada Canadian basketball coaches Knights of Grace of the Order of St John Lieutenant governors of Alberta Heads of schools in Canada Queen's University at Kingston alumni People from Oakville, Ontario Politicians from Rochester, New York Basketball people from Alberta 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Sportspeople awarded knighthoods