John Reid, who passed away from cancer in November of 2003, will be sadly missed in St. Albert. He brought so much to this community and gave it his all. John had a great love of sports, particularly hockey. He played minor hockey in Edmonton, Junior A for the St. Albert Saints and the Sherwood Park Crusaders, and for the U of A Golden Bears while attending University. He coached Bantam AA and AAA, was an assistant coach with the St. Albert Saints, and coached his two sons and daughter when they played hockey.
As a coach he was fair, competitive, and extremely positive. John was affectionately known as “the man with the big smile”. John defined success as simply hard work and perseverance, always emphasizing that hard work would take kids further than talent. John had a genuine love for children, a love for teaching and a love to see his students succeed — the perfect Coach!
John approached everything head on with passion. He stood up for what he believed in. John possessed great inner strength and immense mental toughness. He will always be remembered by the kids and parents he coached, for the being the fun, intense coach who brought joy to their games. John did so while boosting their confidence and allowing his students to be the best they could be.
