FA I R W I N D S P R O F I L E
KID
TA K I N G A I M AT T H E B U L L S E Y E
by Kait Burgan photos by Rae-Anne LaPlante
PLANNING TO WIN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF LIFE FOR GERRY AND MARG JAMES. It’s actually hard to keep up with the fullness of their lives but in between the incredible successes and the trying challenges, there is a theme. That theme is discipline, paired with a competitive streak, a sense of humour and genuine kindness. Gerry is a Canadian sports legend. He started in the Canadian Football League (CFL) at only 17 years old, was a running back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1952 - 1962 and the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1964. He is also the only athlete in history to play in both the Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup final in the same season. That season was 1959-60. Gerry played right wing for the Toronto Maple Leafs for five seasons, 164 games, in the late 1950s. “The Leafs would phone when football season was over,” Gerry says. “They kept enticing me with money.” He cracks a smile, and his mischievous side sneaks into his focussed gaze. His humour is deadpan. 22 PASSIONS | WINTER 2020
Marg is sitting beside him, in a rocking chair in front of a window that looks onto Dolphin Drive. She’s reminiscing about what it was like to raise five kids with a husband who was away for months at a time, and it becomes clear, very quickly, that they are a team. They met when Gerry was getting on the bus to go to football practice, and Marg was getting off after a cheerleading practice. Today, they have 12 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. Somehow in, around, and after professional careers in both football and hockey, and raising five children, they managed a Dairy Queen in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, had a childrenswear store and ran an apartment complex. For a time, they owned the Yorkton Terriers but sold it after “politics got in the way.” When Gerry retired from playing, he spent some time playing exhibition hockey in Switzerland which launched his coaching career. He went on to coach senior hockey in Western Canada, until the WHL—World
