Walter Gretzky dies at 82

[Warden of the North]

RIP obviously but James Duthie was almost in tears? I found that reaction weird, thought something happened to Wayne for a second.

Walter had a huge impact on Canadian hockey and was extremely visible, friendly, and giving to the hockey and general community. It's very likely James had met on multiple occasions and possibly had a personal relationship with him.

Aside from his connection to Wayne, he was a tremendous person in Canadian sports history.

RIP

 

[Seedtype]

For some reason my dad thinks he died years ago...

Seems like a nice guy though, rest in peace.

 

[Bedards Dad]

It feels like everyone has a Walter Gretzky story, the legend touched so many.

My story with him is, back on my birthday in 2013 a bunch of us went to Wayne Gretzkys to watch the Leaf game before heading to the Bier Market on the Esplanade. I believe it was a Thursday, so the restaurant wasn't that busy. About 15 minutes after we arrived Walter strolls in with who I assume was a caretaker. Stopping to say hi to each and every staff member.

After Walter ate his soup and sandwich, we decided it was time to go say hi to a legend. He was the nicest man I've met. Asking why we were out someone mentioned it was my birthday. Seeing it was an important night, Walter asked if he could join our table, much to the shagrin of his handler. We obviously said yes. Over the next 2 hours or so, he told so many amazing Wayne stories, and in between those asking each of us some really meaningful questions. As proud as he was if Wayne, he was interested in our lives as well. At the end of the night he pulled out a note pad with a pre-written message and signed them for the whole group. He also took pictures with us all, as a group and individualy.

RIP to a Canadian Legend.

 

[AvroArrow]

Rip to a legend.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

R.I.P. Walter
Sad sad news

 

[Beukeboom]

RIP Walter. A legend and an admirable man. I remember meeting him once in Toronto when I was twelve or something and he was a real class act.

 

[babylonzoo]

Got to meet him during the 94 lockout in germany. He took the time to chat with us and take photos. Awesome

 

[canuck2010]

He was truly a kind, generous and humble man.

 

[CutOnDime97]

RIP

 

[CutOnDime97]

RIP obviously but James Duthie was almost in tears? I found that reaction weird, thought something happened to Wayne for a second.

I am not Canadian so not as familiar with Walter as some. After seeing the reaction and some old videos of him he seemed like a great guy, but I also thought it was something with Wayne when Duthie came on, first words from his mouth were "Wayne Gretzky".

 

[Dr Pepper]

I feel like this should be pinned for a bit. He was a special man for the game of hockey.

Same, I'm surprised it hasn't been stickied yet.

 

[oilexport]

Walter came to a few youth hockey tournaments that I was involved in with my kid. I was a hockey dad too. Once, I was eating something at a concession table, and sure enough, he came over and sat down with me. It was like talking and hanging out with any other hockey dad, except he was the king ! Very surreal, we struck up a long conversation, as I did grew up in Edmonton, watching his kid. But our main conversation was just a couple guys having fun at the rink. I got the feeling he loved the culture of the hockey world, and wanted to give back to all the kids. He was the ultimate hockey dad that loved to spend time in the stands. I'm sure he missed the youth hockey days, watching his boy.

 

[Unspecified]

RIP Walter! A great man and father, you will be missed!

 

[LeafSteel]

The world just lost some goodness and light today.

The more we lose of folks like Walter, the more painfully apparent it is how much we are losing with each passing. We will never see folks of this quality again, and we are the worse off for it....

RIP Walter, and we will see you at the rink another time....

 

[Royale With Cheese]

It's nice to read the stories from people here who actually interacted with him in some way. Shows just how special he was.

It's always sad when genuinely good people like this die. His legacy will be felt by many for a long time.

RIP Walter.

 

[canuckfan75]

Rest in Peace in Walter. My condolences to the Gretzky family

 

[Amazinmets73]

Whoa, what a figure in Canadian hockey he was, not to mention his parenting...

Walter was a good hockey player back in the 50s. He played in my mom's hometown (Woodstock) when she was a little girl. Back down the highway to Brantford after he got married to Phyllis and worked for Bell Canada. (He continued working for Bell Canada throughout Wayne's career in Edmonton.)

His aneurysm in 1991 robbed most of his memories of Wayne's career (temporarily, at least) and he reverted to speaking Ukrainian for a while afterwards. He made a pretty good recovery, though, and was always a big part of his children's lives.

Solid man, great hockey guy, family guy. What a loss.

"In his autobiography, however, Gretzky stated that his first language was Ukrainian.[2]"

Interesting that his first language was Ukrainian despite being born in Canada. I suppose there were still enclaves in Canada in the '30s where immigrants lived their lives in their native language.

 

[Randy Randerson]

So here's a true Walter story: my dad had taken one of his customers who is from St. Louis to a Leafs/Blues game around 2004. They decided to take a rickshaw which passed Wayne Gretzky's restaurant, Walter just happened to walk out when they passed. The rickshaw driver made a joke to Walter along the lines of "I'm getting tired Walter, want to take a turn?".

He did, there's pictures

 

[BudBundy]

He fathered multiple children...

And whenever anyone asked about how proud he was of Wayne, he had the class to always point out he was proud of all his kids. Class. Take a few notes.

 

[dalewood12]

I saw him at the 2004 World Cup at the ACC. He signed autograph after autograph in a long line. A very generous man and ambassador for the game.

 

[Dr Pepper]

"In his autobiography, however, Gretzky stated that his first language was Ukrainian.[2]"

Interesting that his first language was Ukrainian despite being born in Canada. I suppose there were still enclaves in Canada in the '30s where immigrants lived their lives in their native language.

I imagine that's fairly common for first-gen Canadians.

My mom's parents moved here from Italy like a year or two before she was born. So she was raised in an Italian household, and learned English second.

 

[SenzZen]

RIP to a real one.

What a beauty of a man!

 

[slapKing]

RIP to Mr. Gretzky.

Reading about Walter, from some old stories, the man was quite a bit ahead of his time.

 

[93gilmour93]

Well here's my Walter story.

My wife and I were visiting Toronto years ago so we went to see a Leafs game. After the game we went to Gretzky's bar and grill, got our table and I went to use the bathroom. Between the two bathroom doors was all of Wayne's stats from his first game all the way to the nhl. I go to the bathroom, come out and start reading the stat boards. All of a sudden Walter comes up to me as I'm reading it and says hello. I was surprised to see him and introduced myself and we began to chat about Wayne and the Leafs game we were both at. For the next 10-15 minutes we are talking like we've known each other for years and it became a special moment getting to talk one on one with him. I thanked him for the conversation, we shook hands and went back to our tables. He was one of the nicest and most humble people I've come across. He's everything that everyone says he is and that's a salt of the earth classy man. Very special person that deserves all the praise he receives and made my meeting with him a great memory.

Condolences to the Gretzky family and RIP Walter..........

 

[Tom Polakis]

Couldn't have been a nicer guy. Invited us gawkers in for a tour of the house in Brantford.