Dick Gibbon’s athletic career began as a youngster in Montreal and continued in Simcoe and area for many years. He was drafted as a pitcher by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1953 and was assigned to Hannibal, Mississippi where it was discovered he was blind in one eye thereby ending his pro baseball career but not his career or his love of sport. Gibbon’s returned to Norfolk where he starred for many years on the baseball diamonds, ice rinks and golf courses.

Gibbon’s was an outstanding player, captain, and coach of the Delhi Rocket 88’s hockey team. Dick led the team in scoring in eight of his ten seasons but it was his stick handling and play making that dazzled the fans and the opposition.

His coaching career included stints with the Simcoe Chiefs, the Delhi-Langton Leafs and Simcoe Minor hockey. He spent many years coaching minor baseball with his friend Jim Cleaver.

Dick has committed a dozen years as a dedicated volunteer to the South Coast Special Needs Kids and can be found most weekends coaching sledge hockey, baseball, bowling, basketball or golf. His love of sport and his love of people are always evident.

As Jim Cleaver once said, “Dick Gibbons is an unique individual, a rare mixture of athletic ability, graciousness, sportsmanship and humanity”.  For this and much more, Dick Gibbons is being officially inducted into the Norfolk County Sports Hall of Recognition.

By Don Stewart

December 2006