This article chronicles the last wish of Harold Moore who got to see Ottawa win another Grey Cup before he died on 11 December 2016. Harold died in Ottawa on 11 December 2016. He had served in the RCE from 1954 until retiring in 1967.
Reprinted from Ottawa Citizen 14 Dec 2016.
Article by WAYNE SCANLAN wscanlan@postmedia.com twitter.com/ hockeyscanner
65 Roses Club “president for life” Harold Moore waited 40 years for an Ottawa football team to win a Grey Cup again. The longtime volunteer and Effort Trust property manager got his wish Nov. 27 when the Redblacks beat the Stampeders for the title two weeks before his death.
When the Ottawa Redblacks won the Grey Cup on Nov. 27, their biggest supporter saluted them with a glass of rye from his Civic Hospital bed.
“I knew they were going to do it,” said Harold Moore to his family.
How could they not? That very day, Harold turned 85. Two weeks later, Harold left us. The bowel cancer first diagnosed eight years ago had returned a second time and had spread to his liver.
He went out on top after waiting 40 years for an Ottawa football team to be champs again. As he passed on at the Embassy West Hospice, Harold’s precious granddaughter Samantha slipped a farewell note into his hands. Hospice staff respectfully draped a Canadian flag over him, a fitting honour for one of Ottawa’s most devoted sons, a military man, a champion nonpareil for the cause of cystic fibrosis.
For Harold, CF had hit close to home. A former neighbour had five children, three of them stricken with CF.
“When he told me they were sick, my first thought was, ‘Well, I hope they get better,’” Moore once said. “Then he explained to me the impact of the disease and one of his daughters died when she was eight years old. From that point forward, I thought if I ever have the opportunity to get involved with this disease, I would. I’ve been able to see a lot of improvement in the life expectancy of people with cystic fibrosis.” In 1985, Moore got involved with the 65 Roses Sports Club, firmly linked to the Riders. He became 65 Roses president in 1992 and served in that capacity until recent years. At charity functions, the late Max Keeping of CJOH and CTV loved to introduce Harold as “president for life.” Cystic fibrosis attacks the lungs and digestive system, causing severe respiratory problems. It is the most common fatal genetic disease affecting children and young adults. The 65 Roses Club stemmed from the story of a boy describing his sister’s condition. He pronounced cystic fibrosis as “65 roses.” The name stuck.
Lois Graveline, retired regional executive director for the Ottawa chapter of Cystic Fibrosis Canada, worked closely with Harold from 1993 on. She had never witnessed anything like him. They needed office space? Harold found it. Along with volunteers, supplies. He even picked up the mail.
“He was the most incredibly committed and dedicated volunteer,” Graveline says. “Everyone knew him. Everyone loved him. He was just so helpful.” A big man, Harold had a soft voice that belied his dogged determination when it came to raising money or making a child happy. He once helped arrange a wedding ceremony on the Lansdowne Park field for a young woman named Tracy who was dying from CF.
Harold also worked with the Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs, holding monthly luncheons for mentally challenged individuals.
“He is up there with Max Keeping, as far as I’m concerned,” Graveline said. “He’s given back a lot to this community.” In his day job, Harold worked as a property manager for Effort Trust, a company out of Hamilton. From 1954 to 1967, he served with the Royal Canadian Engineers, stationed in Chilliwack, B.C., and Werl, Germany, as well as the United Nations association in Kingston and Ottawa.
Harold attended his first Rough Riders game in 1948. He went to dozens of Grey Cup festivals, usually accompanied by Jack Jordan, Ron Stewart, Gary Page, Tammy Laverty and Ann Holtz, among others.
Born in 1931 in a Port Elmsley farmhouse, William Harold Moore grew up there before moving to nearby Richmond, where he met and married Norma 61 years ago this past summer. The couple had four children: JoAnn, Shelley, Evelyn and David. Harold adored his seven grandchildren.
Evelyn Gray remembers her father as strict — due to his military background — but gentle.
“He’d say, ‘This is the way it is!’” Evelyn recalls. “Five minutes later, he was hugging you, putting your skates on and bringing you to the hockey rink.” The family lived in Bells Corners next to an outdoor rink.
Harold loved nothing more than family camping. They had a trailer at Baskin’s Beach campground near Dunrobin and spent holidays there for the past 30 years.
“He loved that place,” Evelyn said. “That was his solitude.” At Thanksgiving, knowing this would be his last visit to the campground, families came around for a drink, a last hurrah with Harold. The family will spread Harold’s ashes there and have a toast to his name.
Condolences are pouring in. Former Rough Riders GM JoAnne Polak remembers Harold from Day 1 on the job.
“He made it very clear that people in sports had an obligation to give back,” Polak says. “He was a very kind man with a very big heart.” Senators president Cyril Leeder called Moore a “champion for those less fortunate.” Moore quickly tapped into the Senators for help with the 65 Roses campaign. Celebrity chairmen included Alexandre Daigle and Wade Redden.
Jeff Hunt, president of OSEG Sports, including the Redblacks, said, “the Ottawa sports community has lost a very good friend.” Graveline won’t forget her tireless CF ally.
“I’m heartbroken,” Graveline said. “So many people had the greatest respect for him. I’ve never heard an unkind word about Harold.” A celebration of Harold’s life will be held Saturday at the Kanata Legion Branch 638, 70 Hines Rd., from 7-9 p.m., with the eulogies at 7:30 p.m.