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 (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

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 () 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, and the International Ic ...

when the Flames won the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

championship in 1989.

Early life and education

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

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

, graduating in 1949 with 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 ...

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 public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

where she earned a Bachelor of Social Work.

Career

She married Ralph T. Scurfield, on July 24, 1954, in

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 ...

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 ...

. Together they raised seven children in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. 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 Ice hockey people from Calgary Stanley Cup champions University of Saskatchewan alumni