1988 BELLEVILLE SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

  • Jack Devine

    BUILDER, MEDIA

  • Doug Grant

    ATHLETE, BADMINTON

  • Jean Baptiste “Jack” Laviolette

    ATHLETE, HOCKEY

  • Ernie "Price" Morris

    ATHLETE, WEIGHTLIFTING

  • Vernon Weir

    ATHLETE, MULTI-SPORT

JACK DEVINE

BUILDER, MEDIA

Born in Toronto in 1919, Jack’s indelible impact on the local sports scene began in 1945, when he moved to Belleville following service with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was the first employee at CJBQ Radio, and was the source of radio sports for Bellevillians for almost forty years – ending his broadcasts with his motto: “To play a sport, you must be one.”

Jack received an award in 1973 from the Sports Federation of Canada recognizing his “Outstanding Contribution Toward the Encouragement of Participation in Amateur Sport in Canada.” He was elected to the Board of Directors of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1959, and served as its president from 1967 to 1969. He was the vice-president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1969, and subsequently served as its president from 1973 to 1975. He was also a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation from 1975 to 1978.

Locally, he is a past president of the Eastern Ontario Baseball Association and a former Commander of the Bay of Quinte Power Boat Squadron. Jack remains active as a Life Member of the O.H.A. and the C.A.H.A.

DOUG GRANT

ATHLETE, BADMINTON

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1912, Doug began his legendary badminton career playing on the front lawn with his mother and father. From that inauspicious beginning, he went on to become the World Professional Badminton Champion in 1945.

He won his first titles at the St. Lawrence District Championships in 1929, capturing the doubles crown with his father and the mixed doubles title with his mother. Always the fiery competitor, Doug was the Canadian Men’s Singles Champion in 1933, 1934, and 1936.

Following his competitive career, he coached badminton throughout Canada, including stints at the Montreal Athletic Association Club and at McGill University.

Upon moving to Belleville in 1956, he continued his athletic exploits – in tennis, ranked nationally in Seniors’ Divisions, in golf, in hockey in the Gas House League, and in badminton. He played his last hockey game for the Rotary Club at the age of seventy.

JEAN BAPTISTE “JACK” LAVIOLETTE

ATHLETE, HOCKEY

Born in Belleville in 1879, Jack Laviolette gained sufficient acclaim during his athletic career to become one of only three athletes to merit induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Canada Sports Hall of Fame. The “Speed Merchant” was an elegant player whose exploits provoked terror in the enemy camp. He excelled in hockey, lacrosse, motorcycle and car racing, and was a daredevil pioneer in Canadian aviation. During his fifteen year stint as a hockey player, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League, and was a member of their Stanley Cup winning team in 1916. He had an excellent shot, was a very clean player, and brought tremendous colour to any game he played. In 1918 he lost a foot as a result of an automobile racing accident. The following year he returned to the ice surface as a referee. He died January 10, 1960 in Montreal.

ERNIE “Price” MORRIS

ATHLETE, WEIGHTLIFTING

Regarded as one of Canada’s premier weightlifters, Price Morris got his start with the Apollo Barbell Club in Belleville. Born in 1941, he began lifting weights at age 14, and continued in the sport for seventeen years. He won the Canadian Heavyweight Championship five times – 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1972. He represented Canada internationally at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg in 1967, at the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1970, at the Pan American Games in Cali, Columbia in 1971, and at the Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany in 1972. He received a bronze medal for his performance in Edinburgh, and a bronze medal in Columbia. Price played outstanding football while attending Quinte Secondary School, and was a member of the University of Guelph Redmen Football Team. At the time of his induction, he still held the Canadian Heavyweight lifting record for the “Press” that he set in 1972.

G. VERNON WEIR

ATHLETE, MULTI-SPORT

G. Vernon Weir was considered one of the finest gentlemen to ever play sports in the city of Belleville. Weir was a member of the Belleville Nationals and Grand Trunks baseball teams when they won the Ontario Senior Baseball Championships in 1919 and 1928.

Born in LeRoy, New York, in 1899. Vern moved with his family shortly thereafter to Belleville. As a youngster attending Queen Mary School and Belleville High School, Vern developed his athletic skills to the extent that he was a key player on several championship teams.

There was virtually no sport that he did not play. Vern was a versatile athlete, excelling in hockey, baseball, bowling, basketball, and track and field. He was an infielder with the Grand Trunk National team when they won the Ontario Senior Baseball championships in 1919 and 1928. Vern was a right winger with several Belleville teams in the Ontario Hockey Association – in the late teens and twenties of this century. In 1926, he coached the Belleville High School Girls’ Softball team to the Eastern Ontario Championship. He was a member of the Belleville Y Men’s Intermediate Basketball team which was eliminated by Niagara Falls in the Ontario Finals. 

Weir worked for the CNR until 1932, and then with London Life Insurance until he retired in 1962. He was an elder of his church for thirty years, and a Sunday school teacher.

Above all, he was always the consummate gentleman – who once said, “I’m always happy when I am making someone else happy.”

Vern died in Belleville, August 18, 1983.