KINGSTON, Ont. (December 24, 2010) – It is with great sadness that Queen's University mourns the loss of former Gael Bob Wright who passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family at the age of 50.
On Thursday morning, Wright died in hospital after spending more than a month battling a serious lung problem, originally believed to be a pneumonia-like illness. Wright leaves behind wife Diane and their two teenaged children, Jenny and Jamie, both Regiopolis-Notre Dame students and strong athletes.
A Kingston native, he was a former ball boy for the Gaels and grew up to take the reigns as Queen's starting quarterback for five seasons. He led them to the Vanier Cup game against the Calgary Dinos in 1983. He was elected to the Queen's Hall of Fame in 1995 and remained a proud supporter of Queen's Football.
“The thoughts and prayers of everyone within the Queen's Football Club go out to the family for losing such a great man at too young of an age,” said Dan Pawliw, President of Queen's Football Club in an email to the alumni. “With the not too distant passing of his dad Bill – who was a constant at every Gaels game at Richardson Stadium we have lost a true first family of the Golden Gaels. They touched all generations of alumni players and fans.”
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Robert Reid Funeral Home in Kingston and are yet to be finalized. See -
Bob Wright Memorial
- With files from Queen's Football Club and Kingston Whig Standard
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“We Lost A Good One” – Reposted from the Kingston Whig Standard (Dec. 24/2010)
To get an idea of how much former Queen's Football head coach Doug Hargreaves respected Bob Wright, ask him about the time he pulled his starting quarterback in the 1983 Vanier Cup game.
"It's probably the most difficult thing I've had to do. It stuck really deep," Hargreaves said on Friday.
"I apologized to him just recently about it."
Sadly, that apology, which the Kingston-born Wright simply "joked" about, was one of the last times QB and coach would converse.
On Thursday morning, Wright died in hospital after spending more than a month battling a serious lung problem, originally believed to be a pneumonia-like illness. Wright, 50, leaves behind wife Diane and their two teenaged children, Jenny and Jamie, both Regiopolis-Notre Dame students and strong athletes. Funeral arrangements will be finalized in the next few days.
"He wasn't just a real fine young man, he was very close to all of his teammates," Hargreaves said. "They rallied behind his illness on the Internet, helping prepare meals for his family.
"He was an outstanding father to his two children and was heavily involved in their lives. He was very supportive of their athletic endeavours. His daughter is one of the best basketball players in the city and his son was no slouch as a football quarterback and now he's playing basketball. He was always getting the kids wherever they had to go."
Wright, a Kingston Collegiate graduate, became a Queen's student in 1979. He started training camp fifth on the QB depth chart, but moved up to No. 1 by the time of the Yates Cup game that year, a loss against Western. Wright was conference rookie of the year that season.
"He certainly had a big football heart," said John Corrigan, one of Wright's best friends and a teammate at Queen's and KC.
"He jokingly would say he wasn't very fast, but he always managed to avoid the 300-pounders coming at him."
In 1983, Wright led the Gaels to the Vanier Cup against the Calgary Dinosaurs in Toronto -- his final competitive football game. However, a slow start prompted Hargreaves to replace Wright with Peter Harrison, who played well in defeat. Twenty-six years later, Wright celebrated in Quebec City as the Gaels beat the Dinos in the 2009 Vanier Cup.
"Bob got better with his skills as (his career) went on," Hargreaves said of the Queen's Football Hall of Fame member. "He started as a freshman and he did a very credible job. That was very difficult for him. He had a good sense of humour, which was important."
After his five years at Queen's, Wright spent time working and raising a family in Ottawa and Toronto before returning to Kingston early in the decade to take a job with the Ministry of Health.
"It was really nice for me personally to re-connect when our daughters played OBA basketball a few years ago," said former Gaels player and coach Bob Mullen.
"He was a great teammate and a heck of a competitor. He demonstrated that right to the end. It was a long struggle for him. He was a great guy and he has a beautiful family.
"We lost a real good one." Just a couple of months ago, Wright was a picture of good health. Wright, Corrigan and a handful of friends travelled to Syracuse University on Oct. 16 to take in the school's Homecoming football game at the Carrier Dome.
"It was such a terrible game (Pittsburgh crushed the hometown Orange 45-14) that we all left at halftime and went golfing," Corrigan said. "It turns out it was a great last trip."
Wright started experiencing health problems just before Jenny led her Regi Panthers to victory in the KASSAA senior girls basketball final on Nov. 14 at the Queen's Centre. A few hours later at the same venue, Jamie's Regi junior boys volleyball team also captured KASSAA gold. Bob was not in attendance that day.
Jenny, a member of the provincial under-17 hoops team along with Regi teammate Jory McDonald, travelled with the Panthers to the Ontario triple-A championship in Stratford two weeks later. However, on the eve of the team's first game, the team received a call that Bob's condition had worsened. A decision was made to take Jenny to Kitchener to meet a relative, who would take her home.
"It was a moment in time I'll never forget," said Regi coach Lesley Stevenson, her voice filled with emotion.
Abby Gouett, mother of Regi player Maddie Gouett, drove the car and Stevenson sat with Jenny.
"Holding her in the back seat of that car, that's one of the toughest things I've ever had to do. I've been with her for four years and taught her and coached her and I learned more about her in that hour than I did in (all the previous years)," Stevenson said.
"Jenny just prayed and prayed and begged for her dad. But what was kind of neat is that she also was able to remember some really good times."
Without their top scorer and captain, the second-seeded Panthers made an early exit at OFSAA, losing two games. Despite her dad's condition, Jenny did her best to help the team from home, sending text messages with advice to Abby while watching the games on a live Internet feed.
"There were two things that happened," Stevenson said. "I think the girls realized their parents have mortality and they were also aching for their friend. Any time they sort of came out and were happy, they felt 'How can we be happy when Jenny's going through so much pain.' They automatically would bring themselves back down."
A fighter until the last day, Bob Wright survived for almost another month. However, the news never improved.
"They weren't letting visitors in, but I got to see him last Thursday night," Corrigan said of Wright, the best man at his wedding and the godfather of his son, David, 25.
"It was very difficult to see him like that, but I was quite privileged to be there."
Added David Gouett, Maddie's father: "I'll remember him as an incredible father. He's somebody who just devoted his entire life to his two kids. He's one of the best fathers I've ever seen. He put other people to shame."
