Bill Lehr - Class 1962


 

Lehr William J. "Bill" - 61, Cornwallis Park, passed away October 15, 2004, in Valley Regional hospital after a brief illness. Bill was born in Port Blandford, NL, a place that was always in his heart. He was a son of the late Jacob and Mary Lehr.

Bill joined the Royal Canadian Navy as a supply technician May 23 1963, and retired on August 13, 1986, with numerous postings and many good friends made in his wake. He was the recipient of both a CD-2 and Queens Jubilee Medal. Bill wanted to share his military experience and training with youth, he enrolled in the Cadet Instructors Cadre in 1991 while starting up a new Sea Cadet Corps in Port Blandford, NL. He later moved to Cornwallis and served in many positions with No. 26 Cornwallis including Commanding Officer. Bill loved watching the cadets excel in the Cadet program, particularly the Range, and Biathlon programs. Bill also served at HMCS Acadia as a Range Safety Officer, where his sense of humour, and genuine concern for youth was instilled and remembered by everyone he met.

Surviving are his wife of 17 years, Betty; daughter, Karen (Douglas Giles), Dartmouth; mother-in-law, Lucy Scott-Bonise, Halifax; stepdaughter, Crystal Major, Vancouver; grandchildren, Richard and Shawna, Vancouver; brother, Clarence (Shirley), Ontario; sister, Rowena (Bryan Goodman), Newfoundland; many nieces and nephews. Bill was predeceased by his father, Jacob Lehr (Port Blandford), and his mother, Mary (White) (Greenspond, NL). Cremation has taken place and a memorial service will be held at a later date. Expressions of sympathy can be sent to the family at Box 269 Cornwallis, NS B0S 1H0. Arrangements are under the care of Serenity Cremation & Funeral Specialists Inc., P.O. Box 239, Port Williams, NS B0P 1T0.

 



 

The Cardinals and the Orioles

 

If you look back through the 1960 edition of “The Flight” you’ll find a report by Roy Sceviour on the 1959-60 midget boys hockey season.  As Roy observed, the two teams were evenly matched going into the playoffs on April 8, with just 2 points separating them at the end of the regular season.

 It was right after the first playoff game that I met Mrs. Lehr. She was at the concession booth and she had a question for me.

 "Is Bill Lehr a good goalie?"

 Bill had just experienced what was probably the worst night in goal he’d ever had.

The game had started off rather clumsily with a lame shot up the ice by the Cardinal defence. The puck went straight into a scrum of legs and flailing sticks in front of Bill's net.

 Somehow it came out the other side of that crowd and ended up in the net. I don’t think Bill had a chance on it.

 Then a few plays later, it happened again. Another shot along the ice from the Cardinal defence into another crowd of players in front of Bill. I don’t believe he saw that one coming either. The Cardinals were now up two goals and the damage was done.       

 The last thing Bill needed was his teammates getting down on him, and worse, for Bill to start getting down on himself. But now just about everything was getting past him. Even the clean shots he’d stopped all season. Bill was not in good shape after that game. Something was not right, and Mrs. Lehr knew it.  

 “Bill Lehr is a good goalie," I said.  "He just had a bad night”  

 I don't know if Mrs. Lehr had the same question for every other player that night but I certainly got the feeling that we were all on notice to make sure Bill was going to come out of this thing okay.  

 We did not see much of Bill at the beginning of that next school week. He kept pretty much to himself. When I did catch up with him he was still reeling from that game. I suggested maybe he was being too hard on himself, considering how fluky those first two goals had been and that what happened after that was not the way he’d been playing all year.  

 But Bill needed to hear from his teammates. So, I went to some of them and told them they'd better talk to Bill, and quickly, or they might be without a goalie for the next playoff game. I think Willie Taylor was the most positive influence. By the end of the week, Bill was back.       

 And that next game started out much differently. The Oriole defence was tighter in their own zone and they made sure Bill had a clear view of the shots coming in. Bill played differently too. He stood a little taller in the crease and was much more relaxed, kicking out the long shots and trapping the ones from close in.

 And so it went, right down to the final game.

 All I remember as a member of that Cardinal defense was making sure no Oriole forwards got in past our blue line. We needed to keep them out of our end and get the puck right back up to our forwards, so they could hammer the shots on Bill. 

 And the outcome?  Well, the championship crest that’s  jpegged to the top of this story was hard won.  

 As I was hanging up my hockey sweater in the change room for the last time, our coach Wes Trainor came over and said    “Well Dave, you got yourself a winner”. “Yes sir,” I said.  “We did.”

 We all did.  

 Roy’s concluding remark in the yearbook was “This season will be one long to be remembered.”

 I’ve put the championship crest away again. 

 But not very far away …

 Dave Naish