Bill Comrie to present first set of scholarships in pre-game ceremony Saturday
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Philanthropist Bill Comrie will be in attendance at a special ceremony prior to MacEwan hosting NAIT in men's hockey at the Downtown Community Arena on Saturday.
Comrie will present the first set of 12 annual scholarships out of his generous $1.5 million endowed donation to MacEwan University.
Scholarships of $5,000 will be presented to six men and six women from the MacEwan's Griffins hockey teams.
"This gift is about creating a legacy in support of outstanding students and elite players," Comrie said during the initial news conference in 2015 to announce the donation. "It is my hope that this will lift the program to the next level and pave the way for future generations of players."
Since then, the program has indeed been lifted. MacEwan won both ACAC Championship banners in 2016/17—the first time the institution's hockey teams have ever accomplished that feat. As we enter the 2017/18 season, the Griffins are considered the teams to beat on both the men's and women's circuit.
Included in Saturday's festivities will be a pre-game red carpet ceremony (5:50 p.m.) with speeches from the women's hockey captain, Sydney Thomlison, and Comrie before the scholarship recipients are introduced. Comrie will then drop the puck in a ceremonial faceoff between the team captains.
In honour of his gift to the university, a bust of Comrie has been placed in the entryway to the Christenson Family Centre for Sport and Wellness, and a new high-performance training facility in the centre has been named the Bill Comrie High Performance Training Zone.
Comrie is more than a hockey fan—he played as a Moose Jaw Canuck (the farm team of the Chicago Black Hawks), and for the Edmonton Oil Kings. And he has passed on his love of the game to his sons. Paul and Mike Comrie have previously played in the NHL, and Eric is a Winnipeg Jets prospect, who has logged one game with the big club and is currently with the Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League. His fourth son, Ty, played in the Western Hockey League.
While the Comrie name is well known in hockey circles, Bill has also cemented the family's reputation in the business world. Following the death of his father in 1968, Comrie took over the operations of The Brick, the family furniture business, and helped build it into a retail giant with annual sales of $1.5 billion. Comrie was named the 2012 Allard Chair for MacEwan University's School of Business. During his tenure, he taught business students and faculty the importance of leadership, teamwork and personal commitment.
Comrie's significant contributions to hockey and business are mirrored in his generosity to his community. His gifts to countless organizations and foundations have improved the quality of life for many in the greater Edmonton community.
