[2] And so, at the age of 25, armed with a law degree from Osgoode, son Bill stepped in and became director and vice-president of Maple Leaf Gardens. Mr. Ballard's will may determine his heir and the next owner of the team and building. Preceded in death by his parents, William Wallace and Carrie Buford (Pinkard) Hurt; brother, William ("Bill") Wallace, Jr.; and sister, Frances Hurt. Echovita is an archive of public obituaries and death notices to keep you. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. Born Aug. 6, 1944, at Cairo, Illinois, to the late Harold Vance Delk Sr. and Mary Cogdill Delk, he had lived in Bertrand most of his life. Ballard was made business manager. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. In 1969, painters doing over the Gardens' television booth used (perhaps unknowingly) a dozen or more of these banners to catch paint drips. Their best season in more than a decade has been the current one, during which Mr. Ballard was gravely ill and others assumed control. In one instance, some time in the 1970s, the family of three along with sister Ana travelled regularly to Ann Arbor in a gold Cadillac to watch the University of Michigan football team. There was a problem getting your location. August 17, 2016 Left to cherish her memory is her loving husband Harold of 65 years and her son Gregory (Sharon); grandchildren, Nicole (Stephen), Eric. The foothold was Maple Leaf Gardens, which was Toronto's lone venue for large winter events. Cool as a cucumber she says, Youre going to get you blankety blank a-- out of this car or youre going to have a hole that I can put a football through from here to East Lansing., She just knew what to do at the right time.. . - Margaret Mae Hernandez, 85, of Dearborn, Missouri, passed away Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023, at her home. Veteran. 03/28/1925 - 11/15/2019 . They would not post a winning record again in Ballard's lifetime, going a franchise-record 13 consecutive seasons without a winning record. Keon was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He also was the owner of the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League (1978-89), which won the 1986 Grey Cup. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. Forward to Family & Friends; Print; Contact Support; Upgrade; Death Certificates; Share This Obituary. But they were taken down (on the premise that they were obstructing some customers' views). After losing the battle to gain control of Maple Leaf Gardens, Mr. Ballard got out of the concert promotion business. Harold left Yolanda $50,000 a year in his will, but she also wanted a lump sum, part ownership of the family cottage and $12,000 for their dog, TC Puck. When the group's manager objected, Mr. Ballard told him the fans would tear down the building with the Beatles in it if they didn't do two shows. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. The Marlies won the Memorial Cup in 1955their first championship in 26 yearsand repeated the feat the following season. herculoids gloop and gleep sounds In 1985-86, they finished with a .356 winning percentage, the fourth-worst record in the league and fourth worst in franchise history. Although the Leafs were barely competitive for much Ballard's tenure, every game at Maple Leaf Gardens was sold out and he was well known for his charitable activities. DEARBORN, Mo. Though Imlach was gone, Sittler's relationship with the Leafs worsened again in the 198182 season and he was traded that year to the Philadelphia Flyers. He participated in the 133-mile Albany, New York-New York City marathon in April 1930, finishing second in his class. This proved to be a serious strategic blunder, as Smythe and Ballard controlled almost half the company's shares between them. He won Stanley Cups in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967, all as part-owner. Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 - April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. After Ballard's release from prison, he had an apartment built at the Gardens facing Church Street where he would live through most of the year, while spending summers at his cottage near Lafontaine, Ontario in the Thunder Beach community. Subsequent league expansions and format revisions make it impossible for a team so close to the bottom of the league standings to qualify for the playoffs today. The Leafs barely made the playoffs in 1980, finishing five games below .500. However, the Maple Leafs under Ballard were one of the league's most financially successful teams. At a game in the Philadelphia Spectrum in the late 1970's, Mr. Ballard defended his friend, a hockey legend named King Clancy, when Mr. Clancy, a former player and N.H.L. His death set off a feeding frenzy that had already been begun over the iconic properties he controlled: the Toronto Maple Leafs and. Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. He was accused by the Crown attorney of using funds from Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. to pay for renovations to his home on Montgomery Rd., in Etobicoke. [6] During the time Harold was in prison, his son Bill managed the Maple Leaf Gardens. He had been blessed with gusto, dollars and an affable spirit, and he squandered none of it. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. They married in 1957 and had two children before he filed for divorce. As a young man-about-town in Toronto's version of the Roaring Twenties, Mr. Ballard participated in speed-skating competitions, raced motorboats and drove a Pierce-Arrow. Try again later. [1] The younger Ballard became a director and vice-president of Maple Leaf Gardens in 1972 when his father was sentenced to prison for fraud. Dr. Henry Harold Ballard, age 79, of Grand Prairie, Texas passed away on Wednesday, February 8, 2023. Ballard was a sports enthusiast from a young age and began running hockey teams in Toronto in the early 1930s. In September 1981, after Imlach had another heart attack during training camp, Ballard told the media that Imlach's poor health meant that "he's through as general manager". The low point came in 198485, when the Leafs finished the season with the worst record in the league, 32 games below .500. I was close with (Harold) and he figured out what she was, said Gord Stellick. Family and friends must say goodbye to their beloved Harold Ballard Sheriff (Elberton, Georgia), born in Seneca, South Carolina, who passed away at the age of 78, on April 1, 2019. But Ballard did not take the unproven WHA seriously as a competitor and so was outbid on the services of several players in the Leafs organization. Ballard was pulled from the water unconscious, but one of his friends died. This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. "Any time we were in trouble, and we were in trouble far more often than I'd like to remember, Harold was there for us.". Make sure that the file is a photo. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. He removed the Queen's picture to make room for more seats. Harold Ballard. As owner of the Tiger Cats, Ballard claimed to be losing a million dollars a year. "They loved each other deeply," Mr. Cohl says. Yolanda Ballard, who died in her sleep on June 3, is survived by daughter Ana MacMillan, son Bill MacMillan, granddaughter Molly and extended family, as well as longtime caregiver Astrid von Czieslik. Ballard became a fan of speed skating and would attend skating events and hockey games, helping to promote the Ballard skates. Follow Brad Wheeler on Twitter: @BWheelerglobeOpens in a new window. Smythe died just six weeks later. He was 86. Ballard. The executors of Ballard's will were Steve Stavro, Don Giffin and Don Crump. She was a canning manager and was a. Ballard left his personal belongings to his children and grandchildren. The singer was nearing 40 years old and working at The Toronto Sun when he embarked on a performing career. "Look at what he did in that year he and Peter Larsen ran Maple Leaf Gardens," says Michael Cohl, the legendary concert promoter, who with Mr. Ballard and David Wolinsky formed Concert Productions International in 1973. [33] The purchase was the subject of a securities commission review and a lawsuit from Ballard's son Bill, but the deal stood and Stavro and his partners in MLG Ventures became the new owner of the Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens. This account has been disabled. One of them was Bernie Finkelstein, who with partner Bernie Fiedler was a major booker in Toronto in the early 1970s. Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. Funds were also used to renovate his Midland cottage, to rent limousines for his daughter's wedding in 1967, and to buy motorcycles for his sons (passing off the expense as hockey equipment for the Marlboros), as well as placing money belonging to the corporation into a private bank account that he controlled along with Stafford Smythe. In return, he was given an option to buy Maple Leaf Gardens shares from Ballard's estate. Oops, we were unable to send the email. He also removed the cushions from the home bench for Toros' games (he told an arena worker, "Let 'em buy their own cushions!") Harold Ballard and Yolanda Ballard took out a marriage license last January in the Cayman Islands. Slapshots: The Best and Worst of 100 Years of Hockey. Echovita is an archive of public obituaries and death notices to keep you informed about people who have passed away in your. Some information may no longer be current. Harold Mark was born on April 25, 1935, at the birthing house in Le Sueur County to the proud parents of Lawrence and Emily (Bastyr) Beckman. After his parole, he stated that prison life was like staying in a motel, with colour television, golf, and steak dinners. The two men appeared together at a news conference described as "all smiles and buddy-buddy"[15] to announce that Sittler would not only be at training camp, but had reassumed his captaincy. Box 716 Maiden, NC 28650. referee, angered a fan by accidentally knocking over the man's beer. He finished his sentence at a halfway house in Toronto, and was paroled in October 1973 after serving a third of his sentence. Kingfisher County District Court prosecutors charged Ballard in March with two misdemeanor charges - carrying a firearm while under the influence of alcohol and public intoxication. Learn more about managing a memorial . The players who stayed could use the threat of joining the WHA to negotiate better contracts, and Ballard always blamed the WHA for inflating players' salaries. We encourage your input. HAROLD BALLARD Years 1972-1990 Leafs record 596-736-207 Stanley Cups The skinny Sole ownership under Ballard proved disastrous both on and off the ice. Well, you added Yolanda to the mix and it actually did get more colourful, recalled Bob Stellick, who worked for the Leafs on the business side in the late 80s and compared the relationship to Archie and Edith Bunker from the old sitcom All In The Family.. A celebration of life is planned for the Granite Club when pandemic restrictions are lifted. William. At the time, Mr. Finkelstein lived in apartment building directly behind Maple Leaf Gardens, as did musicians Murray McLauchlan and Gordon Lightfoot. At the same time, Hockey Canada and the NHL Players Association had negotiated an agreement to hold an eight-game tournament between Canadian professional hockey players and the top players from the Soviet Union. Try again. Ballard used the opportunity to name himself acting general manager and hold talks with Sittler, and the two agreed that Sittler would return to the team for the 198081 season. To order copies of Ballard's children - Harold Jr., William and Mary Elizabeth Flynn - and his longtime companion, Yolanda Ballard, had visited him earlier Wednesday. February 28, 1945 - October 12, 2021. There is only one Mrs. Ballard and that was my mother (Dorothy, who died in 1969), said Bill Ballard, who was found of guilty of assaulting Yolanda in 1989 and fined $500. He had his own brand of patriotism. ", (Indeed, Mr. Ballard was an enthusiastic chaser of properties to bring into Toronto.