The kids got some valuable life lessons from the son of No. 9.
Dr. Murray Howe, the youngest son of hockey legend Gordie Howe, talked with students at Pebble Hill Elementary last Friday about his new book about his dad, Nine Lessons I Learned From My Father, offering takeaways on how the late Hall of Famer lived his life.
Accompanied by his wife Colleen, Howe, a radiologist at Toledo Hospital, described how he was motivated to write the book after his dad passed away just a few days before Father’s Day. Saddened their fishing trips, when as a boy his father would take the opportunity to talk about life, were no more, Howe figured a great way to honour him was to pass along everything he was taught on how to be a good father and man.
“To me, he was like a superhero, he was so strong and such a great player. Off the ice, he was the kindest, gentlest person and gave so much of himself to everybody,” he said after being asked by one student what it was like being Gordie Howe’s son.
“Everything you do can have an impact for other people. If someone is all alone and sitting by themselves, go sit with them. And you don’t have to be the biggest person to stand between someone and a bully,” Howe explained.
He said there are lessons students can easily learn to be the best person they can be while describing his dad’s gentle character and generous nature. Growing up during the Depression and having very little was one factor in his dad’s understanding of what it’s like for others struggling, Howe said.
Beaming, he also talked about some amusing tales growing up as the son of the hockey great, who was one of the toughest customers around on the ice.
Howe noted his father, who gave the great Wayne Gretzky valuable advice to develop a good backhand, had the unique ability to shoot both left-handed and right-handed, something borne of having to use whatever donated sticks were given to him while growing up.
Howe noted his dad was also a bit of a prankster. One day, for example, he quietly fired a puck from across the ice to knock his unsuspecting son on his butt.
Howe said he never got into professional hockey like his brothers because he simply wasn’t good enough, which came as a relief to his parents.
Gordie Howe, who visited Ladner a few times after becoming part-owner of the Vancouver Giants, died in June 2016 at the age of 88.
