Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Jim Donlevy passes away

As a football coach he was a national champ and an absolute institution at the University of Alberta.   But it’s likely that Jim Donlevy may actually have made an even bigger impact in hockey where he was instrumental in the formation of the post secondary scholarship system in Junior Hockey. Jim was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame just a few months ago.  

His brother Michael is a long time Red Deer resident and recently retired from a brilliant career of his own at Red Deer College.   Here’s what Michael shared with friends after the death of his oldest brother:

Early Sunday, we lost an amazing individual in Jim Donlevy. A great husband, father, uncle and Grandpa – and my oldest brother. He was a friend and mentor to me over many years in my career and in life, who encouraged all of what I did. I was and remain deeply proud of what he accomplished, benefiting so many people and am very grateful that Jim was properly recognized this year, with his induction into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. Jim was a coach and dedicated educator, totally committed to teaching, learning and student athletes.  He leaves an incredible legacy and all of us will miss him dearly.

Here’s Jim Donlevy’s Alberta Sports Hall of Fame induction video.

‘Jim’ Donlevy devoted his professional career to more than 50 years of coaching, teaching and administrative leadership. His career in football began in 1954 coaching Bantam and High School Football teams. He joined the Edmonton Huskies from 1961 to 1963 and won two Canadian titles. At the University of Alberta, he led the Golden Bears to four National Championship games and brought home the Vanier Cup in 1972 and 1980. He had the most wins of any Golden Bears football coach with 89 wins, 69 losses and 3 ties. From 1993 to 2015, Jim was the Western Hockey League’s Education Consultant. He built a formal education and scholarship program for the student athletes playing in the league. It is now considered one of the most comprehensive education programs for hockey in the world today.

Please consider sharing this inspirational story on your own social media channels so others can learn about and enjoy Alberta’s rich sports history. Click here for more inspirational stories from the Class of 2019.

As your plans and commitments for this summer start to fill your calendar, we hope that you have had a chance to set aside August 8 for the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum annual golf tournament.

On August 8, 2019, we will be having our annual golf tournament at Innisfail Golf Club. The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame has strived to preserve and celebrate Alberta’s exceptional athletes, builders, pioneers, and teams for over 62 years. Each year the Golf Tournament brings together our Honoured Members, Inductees, sporting organizations and the community for a great day of golf and networking. The Golf Tournament is a major fundraiser for ASHFM and allows us to continue to bring sports history and education to Albertans and inspire the future Hall of Famers. Your support in the past few years is very much appreciated and we hope that you will be one of our special guests this year.  I have enclosed the tournament sponsorship opportunities and a golf registration if you would like to join us for our Golf Tournament this year.

Please call Kayli at 403-341-8614 if you have any questions or concerns regarding our golf tournament sponsorship or participation.

Click to visit the website.