The following is a blog post from 2007 by John Lynch, a long-time Saskatchewan sports writer and broadcaster.
The recent hysteria over the football movie 'We Are Marshall' got me thinking of a similarly tragic plane crash involving four members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
As I poured over deposit slips at the Imperial Bank of Commerce on the corner of Scarth and 12th on the morning.of Monday December 7th 1956{check date} three months into my first job after graduating from high school I received a very distressing phone call from my girl friend Jean Robertson who was working at the Royal Bank just across the street.
She informed me that she had just heard some horrifying news on the radio about a plane crash in Chilliwack BC in which four Saskatchewan Roughrider players and one executive member had been killed when the plane they were in on there way back to Regina crashed into the side of a mountain just outside of Chilliwack.
The players involved were Centre Mel Beckett ,Guard Mario Demarco,Defensive end Gordon Sturtridge and rookie offensive lineman Ray Syrnyk and the executive was Harold Mcelroy. a local businessman.
Beckett ,Sturtridge,and Demarco were in Vancouver to play in the CFL All-Star game at Empire Stadium on the weekend which pitted the Eastern All-Stars against the Western All-Stars.Syrnyk an offensive guard who had graduated from the Saskatoon Hilltops had gone to the game as a spectator after a very promising rookie season with the Riders.Mcelroy was there as the Rider rep for leeaue meetings which coincided with the event filled weekend..
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers Calvin Jones a former All-American guard at Iowa who was another CFL All-Star was also on the plane and was a casualty as well.
The players had decided to come back to Regina on the first flite back to Regina from Vancouver on the Monday morning despite inclement weather conditions which forced cancellation of many flights leaving from Vancouver International .Airport. However because of their desire to get back to Regina they left on an Air Canada flight from the other downtown Vancouver and district Airport in Abbotsford.
The other Roughrider player participating in the game was tight end Harry Lampman who took a later flight from Vancouver after weather conditions cleared up and it was deemed safe to fly.Normie Kwong and Jackie Parker of the Eskimos were also scheduled to take the flight from Abbotsford but at the last minute Kwong decided to stay in Vancouver to spend more time with his girl freind who later became his wife and Parker flat out missed the flight.
The City of Regina and the entire Province were devastated with the news as Beckett and Demarco both American Imports were two of the most popular players on the team who were also year round residents of the City and had just recently opened up an Imperial Oil service station on Albert Street south.
Sturtridge, a Canadian, from Winnipeg had been the Riders leading Quarterback Sacker for the previous two years as a two hundred pound defensive end with speed and moves to burn and appeared to have a fantastic future with the team. His wife was with him on the trip and she was also killed leaving behind two young sons who lost both parents in that tragic crash. They ended up being raised by their grandparents.
I ran into Harry Lampman on Tuesday at the Royal Bank and tried to talk to him and offer him words of comfort but he was just so distraught over the loss of his teammates that nothing I said mattered. A couple of my buddies said they talked to other Rider players and got the same kind of reaction.
The City of Regina the Provice of Saskatchewan and in some ways the Country as a whole were in a state of mourning for the next week as a state of disbeleif came into effect. The local Radio and Television stations were filled with local and Provincial Civic officials eulogizing the Provinces fallen heroes. The people of this City walked around with their heads lowered and so many of them broke into tears as soon as any discussion began about the losses of four classy guys who just happenned to be great football players and key components.
of the Riders success.in 1956.It was an extremely sad Xmas season for the entire province.
There were two jam packed church services held for the players on the Friday afternoon..One at the Armories and one at Holy Rosary Cathederal and in both cases there was nary a dry eye amongst the congregation.
The tragedy was the talk of the off season and Rider fans wondered why and how it had happened. It appeared the answer was very simple. The plane should not have taken off as low hanging clouds east of Vancouver made it virtually impossible for the Pilot to see and one story suggests the Pilot had radioed back to the main Vancouver Airport stating he was about to turrn the plane around and go back to Vancouver when the plane hit the side of the mountain.
It was a long depressing winter but once spring came Rider fans being as resiliant as they are began to look forward to the 1957 season.
That week in December of 1956 was one that I will never forget .It certainly is without a doubt the darkest days in Roughrider history.
