St. Thomas University honoured its roots last week as the school unveiled the first crop of inductees to the STU Tommies Wall of Fame.
The members inducted – which included players, coaches, and one team – all competed for St. Thomas when the school was at its original location in Chatham.
The announcement was made at a special reception ceremony prior to the annual Lou Chabot memorial game against rivals UNB.
“This is a proud day for St.Thomas University,” said interim president Dennis Cochrane. “It’s a proud day for athletes and families.”
Inductees were divided into two categories: players and builders.
Of the players, Joey George, a fullback with the Tommies football team in the ’50s, was the first member to be named to the wall, which was launched as a part of the school’s centenary.
George, a Frederiction native, was a two-time league all star during his time with the Tommies and led STU to three consecutive provincial championships.
Other inductees include four dual-sport athletes who starred as football and hockey players. Those were Bryan Jones, John McAloon, Peter McKee and Walter Mills.
The entire version of the Tommies hockey team from 1960-1961, which won a Maritime championship, was also inducted.
Former coaches Leroy Washburn and Vance Toner were inducted as builders.
Only players and builders from the school’s Chatham era were included in the inaugural nomination process, thus leaving out any female inductees this time around.
“Competitive female sport did not exist at STU until after the move to Fredericton in 1964,” said Cochrane.
Those in attendance also paid tribute to the Chabot, a Tommies hockey player who passed away unexpectedly 20 years ago.
Former rugby coach and assistant hockey coach Peter Pacey gave an impassioned speech about Chabot’s character and how epitomized Tommies values.
“Lou will always be in our memory,” said Pacey, who went on to spell out meaning for each letter of Chabot’s first name. “Lou. L-O-U. L stands for loyalty, and that’s one of the strongest characteristics we share as a school, and Lou had it in spades. O. Outstanding, and he was outstanding, but he didn’t stand out as much as he fit in. So I use the word obdurate. He was stubborn, he worked hard and never gave up. And finally U stands for unyielding, and there’s no quit in a Tommie team.”
