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Ronald Charles Northcott, (December 31, 1935 – May 15, 2023), nicknamed "The Owl", was a Canadian three-time national and world
curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...
champion and a Hall of Fame member. Northcott was born in
Innisfail, Alberta Innisfail ( ) is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, south of Red Deer at the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 54. History The town's name comes from an Irish-language epithet for Ireland, ''I ...
and raised in both Vulcan and
Milo Milo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Milo (magazine), ''Milo'' (magazine), a strength sports magazine * ''Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze'', a 2011 children's novel by Alan Silberberg * Milo (video game), ''Milo'' (video game) * Milo ( ...
where his father, Charles was a store owner. Northcott began curling as a high school student at age fifteen in
Vulcan, Alberta Vulcan is a town in southern Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Vulcan County. It is on Alberta Highway 23, Highway 23, midway between the cities of Calgary and Lethbridge. The population of the town was 1,769 in 2021. Now known as the "Offic ...
, and won a provincial high school championship in 1953, playing third for Barry Coleman. Northcott's talents saw him eventually represent the province of
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
at six Briers, Canada's national men's championship. Northcott's first Brier was in 1963, playing third for Jimmy Shields. The rink went 8–2 at the Brier, just one win shy of the champion Saskatchewan rink, skipped by Ernie Richardson. Northcott began skipping the next season, and won a second Alberta provincial championship in 1964. This sent him and his rink of Mike Chernoff, Ronald Baker and Fred Storey to the
1964 Macdonald Brier The 1964 Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held from March 4 to 8, 1964 at the Charlottetown Forum in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. A total of 13,573 fans attended the event, which was the smallest att ...
, representing Alberta. There, Northcott led his rink to a 5–5 record. 1965 marked the only year between 1963 and 1969 where Northcott did not win the provincial championship, having been eliminated from the Southern Alberta playdowns by his old high school skip, Barry Coleman. Northcott returned to the Brier in 1966 with teammates George Fink, Bernie Sparkes and Storey. Northcott led the rink to an 8–2 round robin record, forcing a tie breaker playoff against Ontario's Joe Gurowka rink. The team defeated Ontario 7–6 in the tiebreaker, sending them to represent Canada at the
1966 Scotch Cup The 1966 Scotch Cup was the seventh edition of the World Curling Championships, Scotch Cup with the tournament heading back to Canada for the second time. It was held in Vancouver, Canada at the PNE Forum between March 21–24, 1966. France debute ...
, the
World Curling Championships The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and Doubles curling, mixed doubles championships, as ...
at the time. Northcott and company won all of their games at the Worlds, including defeating Scotland's Chuck Hay rink 12–5 in the final. Northcott, Fink, Sparkes and Storey returned to the Brier in 1967, but were less successful, going 7–3. The team returned in
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
with Northcott's old skip Jimmy Shields throwing third, replacing Fink. At the 1968 Brier, the team went 9–1 en route to their second Brier championship. The team represented Canada at the
1968 Air Canada Silver Broom The 1968 Air Canada Silver Broom, the men's world curling championship, was held in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend ...
World Championships. This time, the team lost one game in the round robin (against Scotland's Chuck Hay), but avenged their loss in the final, defeating the Scots 8–6. The next year, Northcott played in his final Brier with
Dave Gerlach David Fredrick Gerlach (July 2, 1940 – October 22, 2020) was a Canadian curler. He played as the third on the Ron Northcott rink that won the 1969 Brier and World Championship. Gerlach was the son of Fritz and Ida Gerlach, and grew up in th ...
replacing Shields at third. At the 1969 Macdonald Brier, the team went undefeated, winning all ten of their games. At the 1969 Air Canada Silver Broom, the team lost one game in the round robin to the American team, skipped by Bud Somerville finishing with a 6–1 round robin record. The team faced off against the U.S. again in the final, this time beating them, 9–6. Northcott retired from competitive curling in 1979. Ron Northcott 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 ...
in 1970 and on its formation in 1973, into the
Canadian Curling Hall of Fame The Canadian Curling Hall of Fame was established with its first inductees in 1973. It is operated by Curling Canada, the governing body for curling in Canada, in Orleans, Ontario. The Hall of Fame selection committee meets annually to choose indu ...
. He was also inducted into the
WCF Hall of Fame The World Curling Hall of Fame is an international curling Hall of Fame that was established by World Curling (former the World Curling Federation) in 2012. The induction is given as an honor that recognizes outstanding contributions to the sport o ...
in 2013. In 1976, he was made a Member of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
.


Personal life

Northcott was married to Gerry McKay, and had two children. His paternal grandparents were immigrants from England and Norway. In addition to curling, Northcott was also a race horse owner. At the time of the 1963 Brier, he worked as an accountant for an oil supply firm. At the time of the 1966 Brier, he was an executive with Canadian Mannix Corporation in Calgary. After retiring from competitive curling, he worked in marketing tubular steel products to the oil industry. Northcott died in Calgary on May 15, 2023, at the age of 87.


References


External links

*
Ron Northcott at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northcott, Ron 1935 births 2023 deaths Members of the Order of Canada Curlers from Calgary World curling champions Brier champions People from Innisfail, Alberta Canadian male curlers Canadian racehorse owners and breeders 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of Norwegian descent People from Vulcan County