Inductees

Harry Thacker (1999)

Hockey Pioneer Athlete,Builder/Administrator

Harry Thacker was a true sporting pioneer in Prince George.

From the time he first called the young city home in 1920, Thacker was laying the foundation for the future when Prince George would be considered a winter paradise with a tremendous love of the game of hockey.

Born in Ontario in 1883, Thacker played hockey for Prince George and was noted for building character and sportsmanship with the young boys he coached. He operated many outdoor rinks in South Fort George and Prince George, and enforced his code of good behaviour with a firm hand. One friend remembers “Mr. Thacker,” as he was always called, as someone who influenced the correct development of more toddlers and teenagers in Prince George than the combined efforts of parents, teachers, doctors and policemen.

Thacker was the coach, manager and uniform provider of the 1936 Prince George team that defeated Quesnel and Williams Lake for the Cariboo Junior Championship, a tournament that was played in Quesnel.

When Thacker retired in 1952, he was presented with a Chevy pickup truck which he proudly drove around the ice surface of the Prince George Civic Arena to thank everyone.

Without a builder like Harry Thacker, the Prince George sports scene would not be what it is today.