Molson also agreed to sell its stake in Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. to Stavro. In the early 1950s, Ballard hired his long-time friend Stafford Smythe, son of Leafs owner Conn Smythe, as managing director of the Marlboros. She would often hang around the team office until late at night. Ballard was reappointed executive vice president. 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. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. However, many players were unwilling to sign with Toronto in any event because of Ballard's reputation. It trained me to work for my dad.". 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. She was led to the Lord by her grandfather at the age of 10 and dedicated her life to Christ at . I mean, he didn't get his law degree from a Cheerios box. She was. Or, as The Globe and Mail's Stephen Brunt once put it, "a silver-spoon kid with survival instincts." He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (1977) and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (1987). Ballard became a fan of speed skating and would attend skating events and hockey games, helping to promote the Ballard skates. Harold Ballard, 86, Feisty Owner Of Toronto Maple Leafs, Is Dead, https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/12/obituaries/harold-ballard-86-feisty-owner-of-toronto-maple-leafs-is-dead.html. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. But Mr. Ballard became ill, called off the wedding and entered the hospital. '', Mr. Ballard never let high position inhibit his tongue or his behavior. Bill Ballard died of cancer on March 13 at the age of 67. Verify and try again. 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. Along with his wife Noreen (nee Meahan . Facing an untenable situation, Bassett resigned as chairman and sold his shares to Ballard and Stafford Smythe in September 1971. BALLARD, JEAN LORENA Jean Lorena Ballard, age 90, passed away Sunday, July 28, 2013 at Rose Haven Assisted Living Center in Menahga, MN. Angry teammates trashed their dressing room in response. Toronto became a laughingstock of the. He would coach one more game, for the senior Marlies, during the 1950 Allan Cup final, after head coach Joe Primeau's father died. Harold Ballard in California We found 17 records for Harold Ballard in North Highlands, Inglewood and 14 other cities in California. HAROLD BALLARD OBITUARY HAROLD BALLARD III "Bo" Gary, Indiana Age 19 passed away Monday, December 4, 2006. 31. Their .300 winning percentage was the second-worst in franchise history. After Ballard took control during the 197172 season, one of the first challenges he faced was the creation of the World Hockey Association (WHA) as a competitor to the NHL. Anyone can read what you share. Mr. Ballard invested in Maple Leaf Gardens when it was built in 1931 and worked there as he worked his way through the organization in various positions. During the hockey off-season in 1961, Ballard became founding president of the four-team Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League, which operated in Toronto, Hamilton, and Montreal. (His father had made the team's skates.) 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 Ballard, the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League and a man described by his team's fact book as ''one of the most loved and hated men in Canada,'' died. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. From the Toronto Star, December 3, 1969: FUNERAL SERVICES FOR MRS. DOROTHY BALLARD Funeral services will be Friday morning at 11am at Kingsway-Lambton United Church for Mrs. Dorothy Ballard, wife of Maple Leaf Hockey Club vice president Harold Ballard. 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. Canada, Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. In the end, they reportedly settled on somewhere between $2 million and $5 million in total, plus two seats at the Gardens. Ballard had once called Sittler "the son I never had", but relations between the two took a turn for the worse with Sittler's increasing prominence in the NHLPA. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.21, Penguin Books. In 1965, he sold tickets for two Beatles concerts on the same day, although the contract called for only one. "He would eat enough fried calamari for four people, and then order something else.". Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. Harold Ballard, hockey executive (born 30 July 1903 in Toronto, ON; died 11 April 1990 in To-ronto, ON). Bill Ballard's relationship with his father was undeniably stormy, but there was a bond. 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. 00:02:34 Harold Ballard is very self-deprecating, but that doesn't mean he isn't astute or insightful. She thought it was horrible, the way she was treated by certain members of the family, and she found it unfortunate they wouldnt recognize the status she had, Levitt said. The biggest loss was goaltender Bernie Parent, a superstar in the making, who was offered a WHA contract with financial terms far beyond what Ballard was prepared to match. They married in 1957 and had two children before he filed for divorce. It is with heavy hearts that the family of William Joseph "Bill" Ballard announce his passing, after a brief illness, at the Saint John Regional Hospital on Sunday, July 10th, 2022. Mr. Finkelstein's True North record label and artist management company was taking off, and so he withdrew from the concert promotion game. When the Leafs traded Sittler's close friend Lanny McDonald to the moribund Colorado Rockies on December 29, 1979, a member of the Leafs anonymously told the Toronto Star that Leafs management would "do anything to get at Sittler"[12] and was bent on undermining the captain's influence on the team. Shortly after taking control of the Leafs, Ballard stood trial on 49 counts of fraud, theft and tax evasion involving $205,000. His father had been in the Coast Guard at the time. ''Harold is going aboard and get that gold.''. Failed to remove flower. Ballard was made business manager. JEAN BALLARD OBITUARY. BROWN, NELLIE G., 95, of Eugene, Ore., died Thursday (Dec. 29, 1994) at HCA Oak Hill Hospital. "Maple Leaf forever? Obituary James Harold Ballard, of Sharpsburg, passed away Wednesday, December 23, 2020. The WHA had insisted on bringing in all three of its surviving Canadian teams, meaning revenue from CBC telecasts now had to be split six ways rather than three. This browser does not support getting your location. When an outraged Bassett complained, Ballard demanded $3,500 for use of the lights. A memorial service for Henry will be held Saturday, March 11, 2023 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at The Chandelier Room of Singing Hills, 6221 University Hills Blvd., Dallas, TX 75241. In addition to sharing the Braves with Buffalo, he had notions of a second CFL franchise and big-league baseball, too. BEVERLEY JOYCE BALLA February 17, 1929 ! Ballard died from various health complications on April 11, 1990 at the age of 86. As Imlach was preparing to trade Sittler to the Quebec Nordiques, he had a heart attack in August and was hospitalized. Never paid any taxes for me. After being fined, he backed down and put the names in the opposite colours. Face masks are required. Weve updated the security on the site. In the West, CFL teams had come under significant pressure resulting from the introduction of WHA franchises in the four largest Western markets, therefore Western Football Conference teams were generally supportive of Ballard's efforts to become a CFL owner. At the time, the CFL still consisted of two autonomous conferences. 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. Sunday, January 8, 2023 . Ex-Leaf Doug Gilmour looks back at the Wayne Gretzky high stick in 1993 and sees the worst officiated game you can imagine, Inside the trade of Blue Jays batting champion John Olerud, a deal former GM Gord Ash would like to have back, The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Ballard ran his $100 million empire, which included the Toronto Maple Leafs, Maple Leaf Gardens, the American Hockey League Newmarket Saints and a printing company, via a holding company, Harold E . Indeed, the one story about Mr. Ballard's excitable metabolism that has been recycled more than the others over the years involves a visit to New York, where a stunned matre d' witnessed the man's gustatory feats. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. He was "Billy" to his friends, and he had many of those. He would entertain at his Thunder Beach cottage on Georgian Bay, where annually he would lead a trail of boats to Killarney, Ont. Smythe died just six weeks later. When you have found an obituary of interest, you have the option of upgrading that obituary with more recent and relevant content unless the obituary is already assigned to another user. U.S. ). At the end of the 197172 season, the Leafs only had three players signed to contracts for the next season: Rick Kehoe and veterans Jacques Plante and Bobby Baun. Gord Stellick, the Leafs general manager in 1988-89 and Bobs brother, recalled that she just appeared at the Gardens one day (holding a cake, according to some accounts, and refusing to leave until he spoke to her). Most of Harold Ballard's fortune will eventually go to charity and his female companion will receive $50,000 a year until she dies or marries, executors of his estate said Wednesday. Harold Vance Delk Jr., age 78, a resident of Bertrand, died Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, at the Charleston Manor. After being threatened with a large fine, Ballard "complied" by putting the names in blue letters on the Leafs' blue road jerseys, and in white on their white home jerseys, making them unreadable.