He put ice cream into the hands and smiles onto the faces of countless children. But Gordon Hamill’s greatest impact on local youth was as an employer and coach.
The long-time operator of Red Deer’s first Dairy Queen died of heart failure on Feb. 12 while vacationing in Palm Springs, Ariz. He was 70.
Gordon’s son Rob, who operates with other family members the city’s three Dairy Queens and one DQ Grill and Chill, marvels at the number of youngsters his father influenced over the years.
“We were trying to put a number on it the other day and somebody said, ‘Do you think it’d be 50,000?”
Gordon guided many youths through their first jobs and took others under his wing as a hockey and baseball coach.
He also supported the children’s ward at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, Red Deer Kiwanis Safety City and other youth-focused causes.
“Anything that he could do to help young people, he was interested in,” said Rob.
“That was really one of his greatest prides was the number of young people’s lives he was able to touch and be a part of.”
Gordon helped broker the deal between Westerner Park, the Western Hockey League and former Red Deer Rebels owners Terry and Wayne Simpson to bring major-junior hockey to the city.
He co-chaired the 1995 World Junior Hockey Championship committee, was a director of the 1997 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, and was the first coach of the Red Deer Optimist Midget A Chiefs.
Gordon also helped start the Red Deer Athletic Association, the Red Deer’s minor baseball program and the Red Deer Riggers Senior Baseball Team.
Recognition came in the form of a Red Deer Sportsman of the Year Award and a Red Deer Minor Hockey Builder Award.
Dave Manning, a Red Deer lawyer who coached local midget teams to nine provincial finals and five Alberta titles between 1973 and 1983, remembers coaching against Gordon in 1973.
“He beat us handily, much to my chagrin.”
But soon after, Gordon asked Manning to take over his Optimist Midget A Chiefs and was an ongoing source of support and advice thereafter.
Rob said his father excelled in track and field, hockey and baseball while growing up in Frobisher, Sask.
“He used to get picked up by all the small communities around there to play in baseball tournaments and hockey tournaments.”
After high school, Gordon joined the Royal Bank in Estevan — which coincidentally was next to Canada’s first Dairy Queen.
“He instantly fell in love,” said Rob. “He was there all the time.”
Gordon and his new bride Heather moved to Medicine Hat after buying their own Dairy Queen franchise there in 1963.
They later obtained a second store, but left in 1967 to take over the Dairy Queen in Red Deer.
“It was just a little walk-up with two windows and was closed in the wintertime,” remembered Rob.
But the store near Gaetz Avenue and 43rd Street would earn recognition as the highest volume Dairy Queen in Canada on several occasions.
“I can remember the lineup at the window going halfway up the hospital hill,” said Rob, recalling the popular banana split sales.
Gordon built a bigger and better store on the site — confident he could compete with other restaurants.
He and his family later opened Dairy Queens on the North Hill, in Deer Park, at Bower Place Shopping Centre and in Innisfail and Lacombe, as well as the DQ Grill and Chill further south on Gaetz Avenue.
“He always thought if you were standing still you were going backwards,” said Rob.
Manning, who had ongoing business dealings with Gordon, described his friend as “unflappable.”
“He took the emotion out of many, many issues, and usually came up with a logical, rational solution.”
His father worked long hours, said Rob, and was once hospitalized with exhaustion.
“He just felt he needed to be there all the time and work hard.”
But Gordon had entrusted the day-to-day operations of the family business to the next generation 10 to 15 years ago, said Rob. He still came in regularly, but joked that he would only stay long enough to criticize.
Dairy Queen was named the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce’s Franchise of Year in 2002, after Gordon had declined on earlier occasions to allow the business to be considered for recognition. Rob explained that his father avoided the limelight, and didn’t like to disclose when he helped others.
“He was a very humble person, and quiet.”
Manning agreed, but expanded on Rob’s description of Gordon helping young people.
“He was very good with all people.”
Funeral services for Gordon Hamill are scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. at CrossRoads Church.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com