Colin Pritchard says his uncle John was "like a second father" to him.
And so the Kelowna philanthropist was thrilled when on Saturday, Oct. 26, the City of Enderby held a ceremony at the local ice skating rink, unveiling a special plaque to mark the official renaming of the storied facility to the John Pritchard Memorial Sport Complex.
Colin and his wife Lois are the founders of The Colin and Lois Pritchard Foundation, which over the years has supported a wide array of causes, mostly in the Okanagan, including funding for equipment at Kelowna General Hospital and medical research at UBC and Interior Health.
When Colin watched as Enderby missed out on a quarter of a million dollars in this year's Kraft Hockeyville contest not long after the city's rink was shut down in January due to a faulty refrigeration system, he knew the cause he wanted to support next.
Colin made a pitch to the city, offering to donate the $250,000 the rink would have received had it won Kraft Hockeyville, as well as the $10,000 Hockeyville gives to the winning community for youth hockey equipment.
The city agreed, and on Saturday Mayor Huck Galbraith, members of city council, city staff, members of the public and a number of people related to John Pritchard met at the rink for a renaming ceremony.
"John Pritchard was a fixture in this community. His dedication and service to this community is exemplified by his role as chief of the fire department, his service on the Lions Club which built the community pool during his tenure, having served a role in the building of the Enderby hospital, and having logged one million safe miles driving our kids safely to and from school," said city councillor Shawn Shishido "In light of this, it is a privilege to have our recreation complex named after John Pritchard."
A memorial plaque was unveiled next to the concession doors in the facility. The plaque includes a description of John's life, including that he came to the Enderby/Grindrod area at age six, and that his community service began when at age 14, in the summer of 1927, he rescued two local residents from drowning in the Shuswap River.
John passed away in 1990.
His daughter, Yvonne Polson, will always remember him, and with the arena named after him she's glad the community will too.
"I think it's just absolutely wonderful. It's the recognition that he deserved, and I'm so very proud to be his daughter, and I love him and miss him dearly," Polson told The Morning Star moments after giving Colin a big hug upon the unveiling of the plaque Saturday. "He was just a wonderful person, always thinking about the community, and he was the best dad."
Colin was likewise pleased that his efforts to have his dear uncle remembered came to fruition Saturday.
"It's been a great day and we're very happy, and I'm sure the community is happy," he said. "We've solved two issues: they now have a functioning facility, and it's been an opportunity to honour my uncle, who is such a great community citizen."
The funds donated by the Pritchard Foundation will support maintenance of the rink for years to come.
Before the plaque was unveiled, Enderby chief administrative officer Tate Bengtson instructed everyone to "turn around and look at the ice," where minor hockey players were skating around during a game, by all appearances having a blast taking part in Canada's national pastime.
"That's what this is for," Bengtson said.
The facility reopened its doors Sept. 16 following repairs to the refrigeration system, in time for the hockey season.
