My Tribute to “Mr. Mundy,” a great teacher, a giant volunteer and Sports Supporter

Doug Mundy was an invaluable member of Penetanguishene as a teacher, coach, executive member of minor hockey and the Sports Hall of Fame.

A giant in Penetanguishene sports circles passed quietly away last year without much of a hoopla, understandable, being as private as he and his family were. But, his passing could just not go so quietly into the night. Tim Mason had written a nice eloquent tribute to him at the time but now, I add my two cents. He had contributed so much to the town and to me.

Born in Brantford, Ontario, Doug moved to Penetanguishene in 1967 to teach at PSS. He immediately joined the executive of the Little NHL in Penetanguishene, coaching and on the executive for twenty some years. He was voted “Mr. Hockey” in 1972, and won the CKMP “Coach of the Year Award” in 1974. He was also a minor baseball fan, coach and supporter in town and a basketball coach at PSS.

While Doug was many things to many people, to me he was always, “Mister Mundy,” my respected Penetanguishene Secondary School home room teacher and my steady defenceman on the teachers hockey team that I tended goal for for four years.

You see, every Friday afternoon, right after school, the teachers rented the ice at 4 p.m. at the Penetang Arena. They needed a goalie, so I was somehow “scouted” they liked to tease. But being a goalie for the teachers had its perks. I got much needed practice, I didn’t have to pay to play and Doug Mundy would always mark me as “present” in his homeroom during the last class on Fridays, even though I wasn’t there.

Math teacher Richard Kallio would drive me home midway down Robert St. West to fetch my goalie equipment during the last class on Fridays and get me to the arena on time to dress and hit the ice at four o’clock, joined by all the hockey playing teachers, of which there were quite a few on staff. Throughout our life, Mister Mundy never let me forget our little “homeroom arrangement” we had for four years.

I loved my four years between 1972-76 playing goal for teachers Richard Kallio, Richard Bruneau, Doug Mundy, Larry Banks, Carl Manshart, Paul Dion, Bob Thompson, John Dubeau, Paul Fawcett and Paul Quilty, to name a few. They even periodically snuck this under-ager a few harmless drinks at the Palace Hotel in Elmvale on a few occasions after “away games” against other teachers. How scandalous!! Fun times and Doug would be there. “We’ll take care of you, Dave,” he would always say. He and they did.

As I grew, I knew Doug Mundy was heavily involved in Penetanguishene Minor Hockey as a coach and executive member. He coached me in bantam and midget houseleague. When I ran many goalie clinics in the 1980s, Doug was always there to answer the call as my coordinator. Doug lived at the arena in the winter and the ball diamonds in the summer. He loved baseball and coached it with enthusiasm but lamented the fact that interest in town baseball had petered away.

I got to especially know him in 1996 when I joined the board as chair of the Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame. Doug was the secretary-treasurer. That’s where I saw close-up the true quality and value of the man. Steady and calm who loved a good laugh, Doug was instrumental in guiding me. Whenever a situation came along, his reassurance as I sat numerous times with him and his lovely wife Barb, (whom I had worked with as a nurse at the Mental Health Center), at their house on Edward St, was invaluable. I knew that if men such as Doug Mundy and Bert Mason were in my corner in a scenario, then I knew I was on solid ground.

Doug was an instrumental executive member, secretary, treasurer and bingo fundraiser with the Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame committee from 1995 until 2006 and a valued volunteer and “Honorary Member” thereafter until his death. In 2011, he was rightfully inducted as a “Builder” in the Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame, a much overdue honour. Doug Mundy’s contributions to sports in Penetanguishene cannot be overstated. He almost single-handedly ran the Sunday morning Men’s Recreation League for decades. The hundreds of kids, students and players he touched and influenced over the years cannot be overstated.

So “Mister Mundy,” this is my small send-off for you. I apologize for the tardiness of a few months, but knowing you as I did, I know you wouldn’t mind. You were an amazing man. A true guiding light for volunteerism.

I am proud to have been able to call you teacher, defenseman, coach, fellow board member, assistant, and especially friend. Thanks for everything.

David Dupuis is the longtime chair of the Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame and author of SAWCHUK, and THE HILDEGARD PROPHECIES contemporary historical-fiction series.