He often fought with league authorities, his employees, the news media, the fans and his children, often chuckling as he moved from battle to battle. 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. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. This article was published more than 8 years ago. All He floated the idea of bringing in the NHL's California Golden Seals into the Toronto area and much later was a failed bidder for the expansion NBA Raptors.). Imlach never returned to work and his contract was allowed to expire. Burke Mortuary - Newton-Conover Nevertheless, they still qualified for the playoffs under the playoff format in use at the time. Ballard was reappointed executive vice president. Sittler himself ripped the captain's C off his sweater, later commenting that a captain had to be the go-between with players and management, and he no longer had any communication with management. His father was the foreman of a machinery company and his mother took in boarders. Show your support Send Flowers At the time, Mr. Finkelstein lived in apartment building directly behind Maple Leaf Gardens, as did musicians Murray McLauchlan and Gordon Lightfoot. In August, just weeks before the series began, Ballard was convicted on 47 of the charges. He told friends that on a visit to the Soviet Union he had put a Maple Leaf sticker on Lenin's tomb. He finished his sentence at a halfway house in Toronto, and was paroled in October 1973 after serving a third of his sentence. He was 86. Bill was born in Saint John on July 25th, 1951, son of the late Harold and Florence (nee Keir) Ballard. Police surround the vehicle, and gunfire is heard on the video. In Toronto, one of the most British of Canadian cities, with downtown streets named ''King'' and ''Queen,'' a large picture of Queen Elizabeth used to hang in Maple Leaf Gardens. 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. The committee came to be known as the "Silver Seven". Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. "He was in the shadow of his father and maybe I got more attention, but he was awfully sharp. 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. Ballard to Ottawa writer Earl McRae in the 1980s. She was led to the Lord by her grandfather at the age of 10 and dedicated her life to Christ at . 3 talking about this. However, Bassett didn't force Smythe and Ballard to sell their shares, and both men remained on the board. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. [28] However, in the end, it was a partnership of the Labatt Brewing Company, Howard Webster, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) that brought baseball to Toronto, as they were awarded an expansion team in the American League for $7 million that became the Toronto Blue Jays, who began play in 1977. You can search by first or last name, state and publication date. Yolanda Ballard, the former companion of crusty Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard who became a central figure in the circus surrounding the franchise in the 1980s and '90s, has died. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Harold Ballard I found on Findagrave.com. He had worked early on with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell in smaller venues, but by the time CPI came into being he saw the writing on the wall. Off the ice, the Maple Leafs under Ballard were one of the league's most financially successful teams. [3], Ballard's greatest influence in this period was not on the ice, but on the financial performance of Maple Leaf Gardens. Besides, what the hell position can a queen play? The tour marked the end of Ballard's career as a full-time hockey coach. New York, U.S., State Census, 1905. Review. On the night of the singer's first major concert at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, the plan was to put the spotlight on Mr. McDermott's father in the audience during the show. Preceded in death by his parents, William Wallace and Carrie Buford (Pinkard) Hurt; brother, William ("Bill") Wallace, Jr.; and sister, Frances Hurt. After being fined, he backed down and put the names in the opposite colours. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.47, Penguin Books, Date-by-date story of Gardens takeover fight,", Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League, Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission, 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, "Harold Ballard: Hockey's Miscreant Owner", "37 Year Cup Drought: The Legacy of Harold Ballard", "Harold Ballard, 86, Feisty Owner of Toronto Maple Leafs, Is Dead", CBC Digital Archives Harold Ballard Convicted of Fraud, Hockey Trade Rumors NHL Rumors from around the league 37 Year Cup Drought The Legacy of Harold Ballard, CBC Digital Archives Canada's Favourite BROAD-caster, "Black Aces: The Gutter Bin Presents More Classic Quotes", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harold_Ballard&oldid=1140958443, Canada men's national ice hockey team coaches, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, In August 1979, to make room for private boxes, he had. 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. Sittler will stay put at least this season," Ken McKee. His father was Toronto Maple Leafs hockey mogul Harold Ballard. But he did more than work for his father. We are constantly trying to improve our data and make the search for obituaries as easy as possible. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. Please reset your password. Ballard wasn't initially named to the committee when it was unveiled in March 1957, but took the place of Ian Johnston nine months later. Harold would pretend to be angry, then make sure she had a ticket. Burial Date: March 6, 2023. For six years before World War I, Ballard and his family lived in Norristown, Pennsylvania. In the Olympic Village, Mr. Ballard stole an Olympic flag and brought it home as a souvenir. October 12, 1925 - November 25, 2016 Salem, Virginia Set a Reminder for the Anniversary of Harold's Passing. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? [9], During the 197879 season, with the Leafs struggling to make the playoffs, Ballard fired the team's popular head coach, Roger Neilson, against the wishes of the players. Latest Obituaries. 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. There is a problem with your email/password. These demands made it financially impossible for the Toros to survive in Toronto, and after the 1975-76 season they moved to Birmingham, Alabama. [31], In 1989, Bill Ballard was convicted of assaulting Yolanda and fined $500. [25] In 1986, Ballard publicly called the Tiger Cats a bunch of overpaid losers. 30. 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. Imlach was never officially fired, but when he tried to return to his office in November, he found that his parking spot at Maple Leaf Gardens had been reassigned and Gerry McNamara had been made acting general manager. 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. He was so. He tried to micromanage the team, interfering with coaches and players. Slapshots: The Best and Worst of 100 Years of Hockey. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. In gratitude, Williams shot a bear during a winter hunt and skinned it for Ballard's office. The storied arena fell into disrepair during Ballard's tenure. What if John Bassett had been able to buy Harold Ballards shares in the Maple Leafs? Edit your searchor learn more U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 Draft, Enlistment and Service View Record information. Ballard thus felt he had little financial incentive to sign better players. Ballard fronted Stafford Smythe most of the $2.3 million purchase price. He was "Billy" to his friends, and he had many of those. His acquisition of the Leafs, one of Canada's most revered properties, came shortly before Mr. Ballard served a year in jail on a fraud conviction for diverting money from the Gardens' accounts to his own. Neilson did return, without the paper bag. In 1969, Ballard and Stafford Smythe were charged with tax evasion and accused of using Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. to pay for their personal expenses. Years later, he told friends that someone eventually stole it from him. Resend Activation Email. "Maple Leaf forever? At the time of this fight, both Mr. Ballard and Mr. Clancy were in their 70's. Mr. Ballard, a big, burly man with bright orange-red hair, was ''an old-fashioned pirate,'' said Conn Smythe, who ran Maple Leaf Gardens while the young Mr. Ballard was learning the business. Mr. Ballard never remarried, although he kept close company in recent years with Yolanda Ballard, who changed her name from MacMillan to Ballard in 1987. She was. The elder Ballard, shrewd and unshockable, approved of the slaughter, seeing it as allegorical. Bill Ballard died of cancer on March 13 at the age of 67. Mr. Ballard disputed the accusation, telling her at one point that if he ever did assault her, "there won't be enough left to put in a hot dog.". According to Globe columnist Dick Beddoes, the young Mr. Ballard played a "static but well-meaning game" as an undersized lineman. '', See the article in its original context from. According to Ballard's lawyer, his estate was worth less than $50 million. He would entertain at his Thunder Beach cottage on Georgian Bay, where annually he would lead a trail of boats to Killarney, Ont. "[4], He also expanded the number of concerts, entertainment acts, and conventions booked in the building. You saw the seeds of a great promoter. However, hostility to Ballard's overture from the Toronto Argonauts (then owned by Ballard's former partner John Bassett) ensured it never went anywhere. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? We have set your language to Ballard remained as de facto general manager even when Imlach recovered. She could dine with the Queen of England at night and the next morning be busting it with any kind of maintenance person, Gord Stellick recalled. ABBOTT, Harold M; 85; Indianapolis IN; 2007-May-6; Harold Abbott . Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. Mr. McDermott, for one, remembers him differently. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Harold Ballard (10477)? Ballard's opposition to European players was so virulent that a Leafs scout used Ballard's time in jail to sign Brje Salming, one of the NHL's first great European players. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Two days later, Ballard asked Neilson to return, but with a paper bag over his head so as to conceal his identity. Obituary Mr. Harold Ballard Sheriff, 78, of Cromer Road, Elberton, husband of 27 years to Betty Ann Powell Sheriff, finished his course in faith on Monday, April 1, 2019, at St. Mary's Hospice House in Watkinsville. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. Born Yolanda Babic, the daughter of Czech immigrants changed her name to Ballard in 1988, five years after first meeting the owner at the NHL clubs former home, Maple Leaf Gardens on Carlton Street, where he had an apartment.

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