Gordon Thompson
Mention the sport of curling in Prince Albert and area and sometime during the discussion the name Gordon Thompson will be included.
The late Gordon Thompson was born in Margaret, Manitoba in 1914 and in 1942 he moved to Saskatoon where he became a member of the Granite Curling Club.
Ten years later he moved to Prince Albert and for the next 40 years his involvement in curling was unparalleled.
Thompson was president of the Prince Albert Curling Club from 1955 ‑ 56 and during that term he helped the local organization switch from natural ice to artificial ice so that the season could be prolonged.
Thompson was also involved with the Saskatchewan Curling Association and in 1964 ‑ 65 he was president of that organization when the Brier was hosted in Saskatoon in 1965. From 1967‑ 1976, Thompson was an executive member of the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club and during that time he helped plan the new curling facility which is still in use at Cooke Municipal Golf Course.
During the 1971‑72 season, Thompson was president of the Canadian Curling association. He was instrumental in landing Seagram’s as a major sponsor of the national mixed curling championship and he helped the CCA adopt a new constitution. Thompson also appointed a committee to organize a Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in Winnipeg and that institution is now a mobile unit which visits the Scott Tournament of Hearts and Labatt Brier championships every year.
Thompson’s involvement in curling wasn’t restricted to executive duties. He was an accomplished curler himself having won the Grand Challenge in Saskatoon in 1944 and ’51 and in Prince Albert in 1954 and ’61. Thompson was on three club championship teams in Prince Albert (1955 ‑’56, ’56 ‑ ’57 and ’59 ‑ ’60). He also represented Prince Albert at five northern play‑downs.
For his efforts, Thompson received life memberships with the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club, Saskatchewan Curling Association and Canadian Curling Association. Thompson has also been inducted in the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame and is a member of the very exclusive Governor’s General Curling Club.
Thompson was named Prince Albert’s Sportsman of the Year in 1972 and was made a “Patron” of the SCA in 1985. It is with great respect that the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame welcomes Gordon Thompson into its shrine in the builder’s category.
Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.