Discussion: Remembering Dick de St. Croix
in: Orienteering; General
Dec 1, 2021 7:17 AM
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From Orienteering Canada Newsletter
"We were sad to learn that Dick de St. Croix died on Nov 6, 2021. Dick obituary is here. Dick and his wife Pat were both key figures in Canadian orienteering for decades. Pat died in 2008."
About Dick and Pat's initial involvement in orienteering – written by Ted de St. Croix
Dick and Pat and their family of 4 boys began orienteering in 1970, their first event being the Guelph Spring Festival organized by Juri and Alex "Sass" Peepre. Despite pouring rain and soggy maps, everyone enjoyed themselves not knowing that this was the start of a long journey. Dick and Pat started the Niagara Orienteering Club shortly after that first adventure with the help and encouragement of the Hamilton King's Foresters orienteering club. Vineland South, Ball's Falls and Short Hills Park were the club's first maps Dick made using ink pens, mylar sheets, exacto knives and letraset dry transfers on a light box he had built for his photography hobby. Within a few years Dick and Pat were travelling with their boys to meets in Ottawa, Montreal, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
Dick was a quiet fellow who was able to sit through a club meeting and sum it all up at the end and solve most problems. I remember club meetings in our living room in Vineland Ontario, hand printing hundreds of courses on maps at the dining room table for both provincial club meets and many local high school meets. I recall seeing Dick sitting down with tears in his eyes from the stress release after a successful National Selection Races at Short Hills, one of his first major meets as organizer. He and Pat went on to organize the 1985 World Masters Games orienteering segment from our living room. Dick, being a mechanical engineer by trade, built result boards, many dozens of control stands and started O-services from which he built and sold his wooden map printing machines and sold his services as a mapper.
In a meet in the rocky terrain of Eastern Quebec, he fell and split his head open. He made it to the finish and got patched up but for weeks he complained about pain in his jaw. Eventually the doctors pulled a rather large stick from under his upper lip. A visit a year later by friendly US Marine's (who had a dedicated orienteering team at that time) presented Dick with a US Marine issue helmet. I believe he wore it at his next orienteering outing. He was also mischievous. At the North American Championships one year in the US, a competitor asked Dick to tell him where he was. Dick replied "you are on that bridge". He even refused to tell his own son where he was once. Many years into his career as a master competitor, he and Pat formed a friendly rivalry since they raced the same courses. At one major event, they both finished in the exact same time down to the second.
"We were sad to learn that Dick de St. Croix died on Nov 6, 2021. Dick obituary is here. Dick and his wife Pat were both key figures in Canadian orienteering for decades. Pat died in 2008."
About Dick and Pat's initial involvement in orienteering – written by Ted de St. Croix
Dick and Pat and their family of 4 boys began orienteering in 1970, their first event being the Guelph Spring Festival organized by Juri and Alex "Sass" Peepre. Despite pouring rain and soggy maps, everyone enjoyed themselves not knowing that this was the start of a long journey. Dick and Pat started the Niagara Orienteering Club shortly after that first adventure with the help and encouragement of the Hamilton King's Foresters orienteering club. Vineland South, Ball's Falls and Short Hills Park were the club's first maps Dick made using ink pens, mylar sheets, exacto knives and letraset dry transfers on a light box he had built for his photography hobby. Within a few years Dick and Pat were travelling with their boys to meets in Ottawa, Montreal, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
Dick was a quiet fellow who was able to sit through a club meeting and sum it all up at the end and solve most problems. I remember club meetings in our living room in Vineland Ontario, hand printing hundreds of courses on maps at the dining room table for both provincial club meets and many local high school meets. I recall seeing Dick sitting down with tears in his eyes from the stress release after a successful National Selection Races at Short Hills, one of his first major meets as organizer. He and Pat went on to organize the 1985 World Masters Games orienteering segment from our living room. Dick, being a mechanical engineer by trade, built result boards, many dozens of control stands and started O-services from which he built and sold his wooden map printing machines and sold his services as a mapper.
In a meet in the rocky terrain of Eastern Quebec, he fell and split his head open. He made it to the finish and got patched up but for weeks he complained about pain in his jaw. Eventually the doctors pulled a rather large stick from under his upper lip. A visit a year later by friendly US Marine's (who had a dedicated orienteering team at that time) presented Dick with a US Marine issue helmet. I believe he wore it at his next orienteering outing. He was also mischievous. At the North American Championships one year in the US, a competitor asked Dick to tell him where he was. Dick replied "you are on that bridge". He even refused to tell his own son where he was once. Many years into his career as a master competitor, he and Pat formed a friendly rivalry since they raced the same courses. At one major event, they both finished in the exact same time down to the second.
Dec 1, 2021 11:54 AM
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I must have met him multiple times during all those years when Ted & I ran the same class in Sørlandsgaloppen, it was only years later that I realized how much he and Pat meant to Canadian orienteering. RIP.
Dec 3, 2021 12:50 AM
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We saw Dick and Pat almost every time we went to a meet in Ontario. Dick was an accomplished orienteer and mapmaker. He was a distinguished gentleman and a great ambassador for orienteering. Dick and Pat were the power couple of orienteering in Canada. RIP.
Dec 4, 2021 11:39 PM
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I'm sorry to hear this. I didn't know him well,,,but I did know him and he always seemed to give me a slight smile and nod when we encountered each other at meets.
I remember sleeping out in his backyard when I was at an event in the greater Hamilton area in the early 1980's. I seem to recall they had an informal gathering in the evening after the first day and he or someone suggested I sleep there on the lawn, under the stars----and I did.
I remember sleeping out in his backyard when I was at an event in the greater Hamilton area in the early 1980's. I seem to recall they had an informal gathering in the evening after the first day and he or someone suggested I sleep there on the lawn, under the stars----and I did.
This discussion thread is closed.