Photo courtesy the Boug family

 

When former educator and longtime athletic enthusiast Gary Boug passed away this fall, his friend of 49 years, Ron Bell, was honoured to be asked to speak at his funeral.

 

"The fact so many people refer to him simply as Bougie says something about the character of the man" was how Bell began.

 

"Forty-nine years packed with fun times and for him, many accomplishments. The truth is, the thirty-two years of his life before I met him were just as impressive."

 

Of that, there is no doubt.

 

As an athlete, a teacher, a physical education head (the first one ever at Cameron Heights Collegiate), a high school basketball and football coach, a principal at Grand River Collegiate, a defensive coordinator for the University of Waterloo football team and an administrator in various roles outside of the school system, Boug always made his presence known.

 

He had a passion for life that was undeniable.

 

That was who he was. And that is how he is being remembered.

 

That - and as a devoted husband, proud father and doting grandfather.

 

Because outside of his great love for athletics, education and his country, Boug loved family.

 

He loved the idea of family in general; and his own family in particular.

 

 

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Gary Boug grew up in London, Ontario as the oldest of ten kids.

 

"I’m sure that's when his leadership skills began to develop" offers Bell.

 

"No doubt Gary as a young boy was no angel. He was a battler and would get himself into many physical skirmishes often in support of his sisters or his friends."

 

 "By the time he reached high school at Beck Collegiate, it became evident his combative attitude, and God-given skills, would be conducive to becoming a great athlete."

 

"He wrestled and played football and basketball. Beck at that time was an athletic powerhouse in the London region and Gary was one of its top athletes."

 

Like a lot of young athletes, Boug had a number of coaches who were important mentors. One of them was legendary UWO football coach John Metras who recruited him.

 

At Western, he starred in football as both a quarterback and defensive back and also played basketball.

 

"At one time he was captain of both the football and basketball teams" says Bell.

 

"Later in life he was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame at Western."

 

Someone who can relate to the important role coaches play as mentors to young athletes is Damond Jamieson. He played senior football for Boug at Preston High School, where Boug's youngest son Rob now teaches.

 

"Being a young man trying to find my way, it was the way Gary carried himself in a room" recalls Jamieson.

 

"He exuded confidence - not cockiness. There's a big difference. That was a great lesson for me to learn in my younger days."

 

"As a coach, he had high expectations for his players both on and off the field."

 

"He was the best motivator a player could ever expect in a coach. When he did his pregame speeches, as a player, you would run through a brick wall for this man. He knew exactly which buttons to push."

 

Jamieson shares an early anecdote of Gary Boug, the coach.

 

"On our senior football team at PHS,  Gary knew he was coaching a bunch of players that came from mixed socioeconomic backgrounds - and some of us were a little rough around the edges."

 

"His plan was to pick out the kingpin on the football team which was me."

 

"He was running a fit-up drill where I was wearing full equipment and he was wearing none. He manhandled me for about 30 seconds, throwing me around like a rag doll while the rest of the team watched and laughed until it was their turn."

 

"His goal, I later realized, was to gain instant respect from his players - which he accomplished."

 

"I ended up using a similar tactic when I went back to PHS on a teaching placement" says Jamieson. "I was coaching hockey and used the same approach with a forechecking drill."

 

"Needless to say, I got the same results."

 

 

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Similar to his father, Rob Boug has taught physical education and been a football and basketball coach. He is currently a full-time guidance counsellor at PHS.

 

"My Dad was a proud family man with a great deal of passion for things" says Rob.

 

"He was passionate about many things - his family, about life lessons, helping others, education, being your best version of yourself, sports, coaching, and cooking to name a few."

 

"All things were to be done with full effort and purpose - nothing halfway. A lot of this wore off on his sons and his grandkids."

 

"I think every young person entering high school is a little nervous but I had the added 'pleasure' of walking into the halls of WCI with my dad as the new VP. Just my luck."

 

"He was very clear that if I received a detention, I should be ready for ten times that punishment at home" recalls Rob with a smile. "So I kept my nose clean but I can't say the same for some of my friends."

 

"I worried what they would say about him but they all loved him, even when they got in trouble with him."

 

Older brother Sam remembers the many stories of his dad helping others.

 

"Although he was well-known as a fiery competitor, it's the way he helped so many people in so many different ways. Many of these stories are not well known if known at all."

 

"This was often more than just financial help - it was with his time and shared wisdom."

 

"This couldn't be accomplished without genuinely caring about people and making the world a better place. His trips to the grocery store were two or three times longer than necessary due to the number of spontaneous aisle chats he would have."

 

Sam's younger brother concurs.

 

"My dad just loved people of all types" adds Rob.

 

"He was a real people-person who could connect with a close friend or someone he just met at the grocery store, as Sam said."

 

"And he was in the right job as an educator."

 

"He could usually get to the bottom of things and a favourite phrase of his was 'you can't teach to a broken heart and you can't teach to an empty stomach'. He always knew there was a story behind a student's difficulty and he was pretty good at figuring it out and trying to solve it."

 

 

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Gary Boug did a lot of coaching over the years and some of his best work was as the defensive coordinator for the Warriors football team at UW.

 

Duncan Prange played for Boug then and recalls meeting him for the first time poolside at Don Archer's house. Archer was one of Boug's closest friends and also Prange's senior coach at Eastwood Collegiate.

 

Also in attendance was Steve Connell, Prange's best buddy who had been a star quarterback at CHCI and shared the Doug Shuh Award (MVP of Twin City high school football) with him the year before.

 

"Gary was at Archer’s for dinner - lobster, if I remember correctly" Prange says with a chuckle.

 

"Steve introduced me to Gary and I introduced Steve to Arch. We had a couple of beers (the drinking age then was 18) and the trash talking started between Gary and Arch. It was a memorable evening and bets on the upcoming high school senior football season were made and off we went."

 

"During the winter of 1973, I got a call from Gary to go for a beer. He wanted to know where I was going to university."

 

"Arch wanted me to go to WLU and I told Gary that I was still undecided."

 

"At that point he said that he was going to be the defensive coordinator at Waterloo in the fall. He put his arm around me and looked me straight in the eye (with those smiling Irish eyes) and said 'Kid - why don’t you come with me?' "

 

"How could I refuse?"

 

The impact Boug had on Prange, who became a two-way starter at guard and linebacker, was profound.

 

"Gary was a real competitor and coached us to play both hard and smart."

 

"If you made a mistake on the field it was a painful trot back to the sidelines but once he told you  that he believed in you, you just hated to disappoint him. He wouldn’t let you quit. Ever!!"

 

The impact on fellow Warrior Doug Crossman was no less profound.

 

"Much has been studied about 'character' and Gary Boug demonstrated, in my experience, several of the key strengths of character: fairness, honesty, humility, humour, judgment, commitment, kindness and leadership - all resulting in a man with considerable social intelligence."

 

"Gary was one of the most engaging men I ever met" says Crossman. "He shaped me as both a player and a man with his direct and honest feedback."

 

 "I have a great deal of gratitude - which I regrettably never took the chance to truly express to him."

 

"I left UW in 1976 and my sense of Gary is as strong now as it was then. That man just stays with you."

 

Tim Pickett became an All-Canadian defensive back for Waterloo under Boug's guidance.

 

"When I think of Gary Boug, the first word that comes to mind is passion" says Pickett.

 

"He was very passionate about education, sports and life in general. He never took his foot off the pedal - whether dealing with a student, an athlete or a complete stranger. Always trying to get the person to be the best and to have a laugh while doing whatever task was at hand."

 

"As a coach, motivation was his forte, without a doubt."

 

 

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As mentioned earlier, Boug came from a family of ten children - six girls and four boys.

 

One of those younger brothers is Bill Boug who also played football at UW with Pickett, Prange and Crossman.

 

Bill remembers fondly an older sibling who looked out for him.

 

"We didn’t have a lot of money growing up as our dad was a conductor on the CP Rail system so Gary worked very hard at several jobs to get himself to the University of Western Ontario."

 

"To us younger kids growing up, he always said that he would help any of us if we wanted to go to university."

 

"I had similar goals as Gary and was able to take advantage of his offer" says Bill reflecting back on those years. "In fact, the only reason I ended up at Waterloo was because of Gary."

 

"I lived with Gary and Martha and their boys my first year at Waterloo in 1975. They helped provide additional funding and covered many expenses for me there my first year."

 

Brother Bill highlights a certain quality of his older sib that always impressed him:

"He was very generous with a very valuable commodity which many of us have trouble managing…that is, his time."

 

"He would always spend the extra time and effort to help or support anyone that was also willing to do better. Often it was to help someone that didn’t even realize they could be better."

 

It's not a surprise that in a conversation with one of his siblings the topic of family - and the importance therein - would come up.

 

"Gary had a strong desire to make sure our very large family stayed as connected as possible."

 

"About 25 years ago, he organized a Boug Boys golf tournament and after every event we would have a full family gathering where everyone was there, usually at his home."

 

"He was always keeping us connected in one way or another, whether in those summer golf events or Christmas gatherings - especially after our parents passed and weren't around to do that work."

 

 

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Like Ron Bell, Don Archer was a lifelong and close friend of Gary Boug.

 

"I first met Gary at a basketball tournament when I was in grade 13. I recognized that he was a great athlete right away. It was his London Beck team versus my KCI team and although Gary was good, we won" says Archer with a grin.

 

"Our friendship grew over the years and we met at the Legion every Wednesday for a few beers to discuss things. Although we had many differences of opinion, we always worked it out."

 

The Bougs and the Archers also did a lot of travelling together over the years.

 

"Gary always wanted to be the driver and did so…very fast!"

 

"On one hazardous mountain road, he wondered why we all seemed scared. I told him it was because there was a 747 below us."

 

The man many know simply and respectfully as "Arch", liked to tease his buddy about his money habits.

 

"Gary would travel all over K-W to save money on food so let's just say he was a bit 'thrifty' ."

 

"But his freezer was always overflowing. Gary loved to cook and I loved to eat – so we made a great pair."

 

Boug's love affair with food is something Bell also remembers quite well.

 

"He loved to cook and was very good at it" says the long time Cameron Heights coach.

 

"Gary was a serious shopper for food - more so than clothing" offers Bell with a wink.

 

But as much as he loved food and education and athletics, the true love of Boug's life was his wife Martha.

 

"Bougie certainly loved his Martha" says Bell.

 

"He would deliver, without fail, a bouquet of roses to celebrate her birthday and Valentine’s Day every year of their marriage and even before."

 

 

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Gary Boug was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this fall and passed away all too quickly.

 

"He lived a full life in every sense of the word" says Rob.

 

"Near the end, he said to me from his bed at the hospice numerous times, 'I am a lucky, lucky man'. "

 

Aside from family, maybe Gary Boug's legacy lay best in the words of his former students and players.

 

People like Damond Jamieson.

 

"I honestly believe I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Gary coming into my life when he did."

 

"I grew up in a single parent home living in Ontario Housing with my five brothers and sisters. He came into my life at the right time and was a huge mentor to me. I aspired to be like him and to make a difference in the lives of young people."

 

Jamieson graduated from university, became a police officer in Peel region for five years and then switched careers to become a firefighter. He is currently the Deputy Fire Chief in Cambridge and aspires to finish his career as a Fire Chief.

 

"Because of Gary's influence, I learned to bet on myself" says Jamieson.

 

"And I have no regrets with how my life has unfolded."