August 5, 2025 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, when Walter Gretzky passed away at 82, people didn’t just remember him as the father of Wayne Gretzky. They remembered the man who stood quietly behind the scenes for decades, offering time, stability, and a kind of presence that never asked to be noticed. The backyard rink he built in Brantford became the foundation of Wayne’s earliest training, but the influence ran deeper than the ice. In this remembrance, Wayne reflects on what he shared at his father’s funeral and how that quiet support shaped his life, both on the ice and far beyond it.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
including your story. Send them to our American Stories dot com.
That's our American Stories dot com. They're some of our favorites.
Known as Canada's hockey dad, Walter Gretzky died at the
age of eighty two. His death prompted an avalanche of
(00:31):
tributes for an approachable, authentic person who nurtured the unsurpassed
hockey talents of his son, Wayne Gretzky on the family's
fame backyard rink in Branford, Ontario. Walter suffered a serious
brain aneurism, which robbed him of much of his memory
in two thousand and seven that includes many of Wayne's
biggest moments. The sixty year old NHL legend turned American
(00:55):
citizen delivered remarks at the Saint Mark's Anglican Church in Branford,
shortly after laying his father to rest. Wayne stepped up
to the podium in front of family heeded in the
pews and reminisced about his father's life.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Here's Wayne Gretzky.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Thank you, and obviously, with the pandemic that we've had,
it's been horrible for everyone throughout the world in Canada,
North America.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I really wanted to tell everyone that.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
My dad and my sister and our family were so
conscious of it that COVID had nothing to do with
the passing of my father.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Unfortunately, a few weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
He sustained a bad hip injury, and as he just
said earlier, we thought weeks ago that the end was here.
He has a tremendous amount of faith, faith like I've
never seen. But he had a love for life and
he didn't want to leave. And we were twenty one
days sitting with them and just enjoying life, and we
(02:06):
got a chance and an opportunity to tell stories. Our
grandchildren had never seen my dad after his brain aneurysm,
and we were telling them all, you're thankful that you
didn't know him before his brain aneurism, because he was
a lot tougher. So it's been a tough time. I
(02:27):
wanted to thank everyone in the community who dropped off food,
who dropped off sandwiches. They knew we were all there
for twenty one days. My sister was a champ. She
was beside him each and every minute of the day.
The grandkids were wonderful. My dad and Mom, I know,
(02:50):
are so proud, so I thought I would tell a
couple of stories.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I didn't know.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I spent the last four nights talking with my wife Janet,
thinking what I was gonna say, and like I usually do,
I try to just kind of wing it and speak
from my heart. So years ago, as everyone knows, my
dad was such a huge sports fan and hockey guy,
(03:19):
and we were playing in a hockey tournament outside of Toronto,
and my dad was so proud of the fact we're
going to play against better teams than little towns in
this area. And on a Friday night, we're going to
the tournament and my mom said to him, Walter, we're
gonna have this baby this weekend, and he said it's okay,
(03:41):
you can wait till we get back. So Brant was
born on the Saturday. We went to this tournament in Whitby, Ontario.
We played against good teams like Burlington, Oshawa, Hamilton, Toronto,
Marley's Nationals.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
We won the tournament.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
We got in the car and we weren't sure if
the car could get us back from.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Oshawa to Branford.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
So we finally got back and the next day, Mom
came home with Brent. People were coming by, families, friends, sisters,
congratulations on the baby, and every single person would say
to my dad, well, Walter, I can't believe you missed
the birth of your son. So our next to our neighbor,
Maria Roseetta, came over. She was the last person to
(04:32):
come over. She said, Walter, I can't believe you missed
the birth of Brent. And when she walked out the door,
he was so mad. He stood up and he grabbed
the trophy and he goes, yes, but we got the trophy.
So as time goes on, he was so nice to
(04:52):
all the grandchildren. Every grandchild loved him close to each
and every one of them. They understood how important he
was not only to our family, but to the culture
of Canada. He came here his family as an immigrant.
They came here because they wanted a better life. I
don't think I've ever met a prouder Canadian than my dad.
(05:16):
And all my five children are American born in the
United States, and I always tell them you should be
as proud of the United States as your grandfather is
of Canada, because that's how much he loves the country.
So I always tell my kids, you know, there's nothing
better in life than family. So my dad would come
(05:38):
every year to our summer house. My son, Tai, Trevor, Tristan,
they had a hockey school and Dad would come out.
He'd go to the rink sign autographs like he always does.
And we were playing golf one day and he's picking
(05:59):
up golf balls and I'm like, we have all these
golf balls.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
What are all these golf balls for?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
And finally the next day, Ty, Trevor and Tristan, my
friend Mike and Tom, they're in the fairway, they're in
the rough. They're grabbing all these balls and I finally
grab them. I said, you guys got to stop grabbing
golf balls. And I'm like, what do you mean your
dad wants them for the kids. I said, I know
he wants them for the kids, but I got to
sign him for the kids. So I take my dad
(06:28):
at the airport at five am. Sure enough, we get
to the airport, there's this two big bags and my
brother Glenn, he runs out of the car.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
He's going to get a cup of coffee.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
My dad goes, you'll sign these for the kids, right,
I'm like, oh my god, so there was signing for hours,
but that's how he was. He just he was a
remarkable man who loved life, love family. We'd be a
way better world if there were so many more people
like my dad. Very special. We're all hurting. This is
(07:00):
a tough time. I'm so proud of the fact that
so many people have reached out and given him such
great tributes because he deserves it.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
He has a heart of gold and just wonderful.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And you've been listening to Wayne Gretzky eulogizing his father.
And by the way, though he suffered tremendous memory loss
due to that brain aneurysm, the father did remember many
accounts of his own personal faith. And we have a
couple of quotes from you in our family. Walter once said,
we're all Christians, and we all help each other. It's
(07:39):
due unto others as you would like done unto yourself.
Walter also said in twenty thirteen that one morning during
his rehabilitation, he woke up and couldn't stop singing all
of amazing grace and that will be all the verses.
I drove my therapist nuts. He said, for my sister
and three brothers, Dad was our team. Captain Wayne said
(08:01):
he guided, protected and led our family every day, every
step of the way. And by the way, we would
love to hear your stories about your father, your mother.
And we love eulogies. I mean not that we love it.
There's a death, but there inevitably is for all of us.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And the eulogy is.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
A summary of a life, written by people closest to
the person that's departed. And so if you have a
great eulogy in mind from a family member or someone else,
our favorite here on this show, and I think there
are two. Swen Nater, a player who had played for
John Wooden, wrote a poem for coach. This one was
(08:40):
a poet, a great ballplayer, but a poet, and it
was spectacular. And then my favorite, my personal favorite, was
Jack Nicholas eulogizing Arnold Palmer and telling the world what
made Arnold special. So if you have those stories eulogies,
if you have a recording, will be still my heart,
send it our way, send it to our America Stories
(09:00):
dot com. Wayne Gretzky eulogizes his father, and one can
tell there was great love there. And when you have
a father's love and a mother's love. You're privileged, and
when you don't, well enough, said Wayne Gretzky's eulogy of
his father. Here on our American stories.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
including your story. Send them to our American Stories dot com.
That's our American Stories dot com. They're some of our favorites.
Known as Canada's hockey dad, Walter Gretzky died at the
age of eighty two. His death prompted an avalanche of
(00:31):
tributes for an approachable, authentic person who nurtured the unsurpassed
hockey talents of his son, Wayne Gretzky on the family's
fame backyard rink in Branford, Ontario. Walter suffered a serious
brain aneurism, which robbed him of much of his memory
in two thousand and seven that includes many of Wayne's
biggest moments. The sixty year old NHL legend turned American
(00:55):
citizen delivered remarks at the Saint Mark's Anglican Church in Branford,
shortly after laying his father to rest. Wayne stepped up
to the podium in front of family heeded in the
pews and reminisced about his father's life.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Here's Wayne Gretzky.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Thank you, and obviously, with the pandemic that we've had,
it's been horrible for everyone throughout the world in Canada,
North America.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I really wanted to tell everyone that.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
My dad and my sister and our family were so
conscious of it that COVID had nothing to do with
the passing of my father.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Unfortunately, a few weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
He sustained a bad hip injury, and as he just
said earlier, we thought weeks ago that the end was here.
He has a tremendous amount of faith, faith like I've
never seen. But he had a love for life and
he didn't want to leave. And we were twenty one
days sitting with them and just enjoying life, and we
(02:06):
got a chance and an opportunity to tell stories. Our
grandchildren had never seen my dad after his brain aneurysm,
and we were telling them all, you're thankful that you
didn't know him before his brain aneurism, because he was
a lot tougher. So it's been a tough time. I
(02:27):
wanted to thank everyone in the community who dropped off food,
who dropped off sandwiches. They knew we were all there
for twenty one days. My sister was a champ. She
was beside him each and every minute of the day.
The grandkids were wonderful. My dad and Mom, I know,
(02:50):
are so proud, so I thought I would tell a
couple of stories.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I didn't know.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I spent the last four nights talking with my wife Janet,
thinking what I was gonna say, and like I usually do,
I try to just kind of wing it and speak
from my heart. So years ago, as everyone knows, my
dad was such a huge sports fan and hockey guy,
(03:19):
and we were playing in a hockey tournament outside of Toronto,
and my dad was so proud of the fact we're
going to play against better teams than little towns in
this area. And on a Friday night, we're going to
the tournament and my mom said to him, Walter, we're
gonna have this baby this weekend, and he said it's okay,
(03:41):
you can wait till we get back. So Brant was
born on the Saturday. We went to this tournament in Whitby, Ontario.
We played against good teams like Burlington, Oshawa, Hamilton, Toronto,
Marley's Nationals.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
We won the tournament.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
We got in the car and we weren't sure if
the car could get us back from.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Oshawa to Branford.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
So we finally got back and the next day, Mom
came home with Brent. People were coming by, families, friends, sisters,
congratulations on the baby, and every single person would say
to my dad, well, Walter, I can't believe you missed
the birth of your son. So our next to our neighbor,
Maria Roseetta, came over. She was the last person to
(04:32):
come over. She said, Walter, I can't believe you missed
the birth of Brent. And when she walked out the door,
he was so mad. He stood up and he grabbed
the trophy and he goes, yes, but we got the trophy.
So as time goes on, he was so nice to
(04:52):
all the grandchildren. Every grandchild loved him close to each
and every one of them. They understood how important he
was not only to our family, but to the culture
of Canada. He came here his family as an immigrant.
They came here because they wanted a better life. I
don't think I've ever met a prouder Canadian than my dad.
(05:16):
And all my five children are American born in the
United States, and I always tell them you should be
as proud of the United States as your grandfather is
of Canada, because that's how much he loves the country.
So I always tell my kids, you know, there's nothing
better in life than family. So my dad would come
(05:38):
every year to our summer house. My son, Tai, Trevor, Tristan,
they had a hockey school and Dad would come out.
He'd go to the rink sign autographs like he always does.
And we were playing golf one day and he's picking
(05:59):
up golf balls and I'm like, we have all these
golf balls.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
What are all these golf balls for?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
And finally the next day, Ty, Trevor and Tristan, my
friend Mike and Tom, they're in the fairway, they're in
the rough. They're grabbing all these balls and I finally
grab them. I said, you guys got to stop grabbing
golf balls. And I'm like, what do you mean your
dad wants them for the kids. I said, I know
he wants them for the kids, but I got to
sign him for the kids. So I take my dad
(06:28):
at the airport at five am. Sure enough, we get
to the airport, there's this two big bags and my
brother Glenn, he runs out of the car.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
He's going to get a cup of coffee.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
My dad goes, you'll sign these for the kids, right,
I'm like, oh my god, so there was signing for hours,
but that's how he was. He just he was a
remarkable man who loved life, love family. We'd be a
way better world if there were so many more people
like my dad. Very special. We're all hurting. This is
(07:00):
a tough time. I'm so proud of the fact that
so many people have reached out and given him such
great tributes because he deserves it.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
He has a heart of gold and just wonderful.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And you've been listening to Wayne Gretzky eulogizing his father.
And by the way, though he suffered tremendous memory loss
due to that brain aneurysm, the father did remember many
accounts of his own personal faith. And we have a
couple of quotes from you in our family. Walter once said,
we're all Christians, and we all help each other. It's
(07:39):
due unto others as you would like done unto yourself.
Walter also said in twenty thirteen that one morning during
his rehabilitation, he woke up and couldn't stop singing all
of amazing grace and that will be all the verses.
I drove my therapist nuts. He said, for my sister
and three brothers, Dad was our team. Captain Wayne said
(08:01):
he guided, protected and led our family every day, every
step of the way. And by the way, we would
love to hear your stories about your father, your mother.
And we love eulogies. I mean not that we love it.
There's a death, but there inevitably is for all of us.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And the eulogy is.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
A summary of a life, written by people closest to
the person that's departed. And so if you have a
great eulogy in mind from a family member or someone else,
our favorite here on this show, and I think there
are two. Swen Nater, a player who had played for
John Wooden, wrote a poem for coach. This one was
(08:40):
a poet, a great ballplayer, but a poet, and it
was spectacular. And then my favorite, my personal favorite, was
Jack Nicholas eulogizing Arnold Palmer and telling the world what
made Arnold special. So if you have those stories eulogies,
if you have a recording, will be still my heart,
send it our way, send it to our America Stories
(09:00):
dot com. Wayne Gretzky eulogizes his father, and one can
tell there was great love there. And when you have
a father's love and a mother's love. You're privileged, and
when you don't, well enough, said Wayne Gretzky's eulogy of
his father. Here on our American stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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