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Eldon Coombe

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eldon Coombe
Medal record
Curling
Macdonald Brier
Bronze medal – third place1972 St. John's

Eldon James Coombe (May 8, 1941 – May 22, 2026) was a Canadian curler from Ottawa, Ontario. Coombe and his Ottawa Curling Club rink of third Keith Forgues, Second Jim Patrick and Lead Barry Provost "dominated the curling scene (in Eastern Ontario and Quebec) from the mid 60s to the mid 70s".[1] In 1972, he became the first skip of an Ottawa-based team to represent Ontario at the Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship.

Career

[edit]

Youth

[edit]

Coombe began curling at age 15, choosing the sport in high school, as he was too small to play hockey, football or basketball.[2] While attending Glebe Collegiate Institute, he was a member of the team that won the C.B. Hermann Trophy Event, Ottawa's top high school curling trophy.[3] The following year, he skipped one of two Glebe Collegiate rinks to win the Cole Cup double rink event.[4] After graduating from Glebe, Coombe attended Carleton University.[5]

Men's

[edit]

Coombe played in his first provincial men's championship (the called the British Consols) in 1963, playing lead for the Bob Knipperberg rink,[2] playing out of the Glebe Curling Club. The team finished the round robin of the 1963 Consols with a 5–2 record, in second place behind the champion Bob Mann rink from Hanover.[6] Coombe played one more season with Knipperberg before forming his own rink in 1964.

Coombe, and his Ottawa Curling Club rink of Jim Patrick, Brian Morrison and Keith Forgues won the Royal Jubilee Trophy in 1966,[7] which they followed up by winning the Governor General's Trophy double rink event two weeks later with Gord Brown skipping the other Ottawa rink,[8] and swept that year's Canadian Branch championships by winning the Colts single rink event later in the month.[9]

While they didn't make it to the provincial championships in 1967, Coombe led his team of Forgues, Patrick and new lead Barry Provost to victory at that year's "Pre-Brier 'Spiel" held in Hull, Quebec,[10] Coombe's first tournament played on arena ice.[11] The following season, Coombe won his second career Royal Victoria Jubilee Trophy.[12] The team qualified for their first provincial championship (second for Coombe) by defeating Fred Jones of Cumberland for the Division 1 title.[13] At the 1968 British Consols, the team made it to the finals, a best-of-three series against Don Gilbert, a dentist from St. Thomas, which they lost two games to one.[14]

Team Coombe made it to provincials again in 1969, after defeating the Jim Moffatt rink from Cumberland in the Division 1 finals.[15] However at the 1969 British Consols, the team lost both of their games in the double knockout event.[16]

The team continued their success into the 1969–70 season, winning the bonspiels at the Navy, and Rockcliffe Clubs, as well as the Commanding Officer's Trophy at the Uplands Invitation bonspiel. The team also won the Hull Cash 'Spiel without Coombe.[17] The team also won their third Royal Victoria Jubilee Trophy that season.[18] The team qualified for their third straight British Consols after winning the Division 1 title over Bill Dickie of Cornwall.[19] At the 1970 Consols, the team made it to the semifinals, where they lost to Joe Gurowka.[20]

Coombe briefly retired from the team for the 1970–71 season to take special courses,[21] with Forgues skipping the rink in his stead, and adding Peter Haime at second. Without Coombe, the team played at a fourth British Consols that season, and won another Jubilee Trophy.[22] Coombe did not take the entire season off however, and with Terry Begin skipping, he won the City of Ottawa Bonspiel grand aggregate championship in March.[23]

Coombe qualified for the British Consols again in 1972, defeating Bob Ford of Peterborough in divisional playdowns.[11] The pinnacle of his career came at the Consols that season, when the Coombe rink defeated Bob Woods of Toronto 9-8 on home ice at the Earl Armstrong Arena in the Ottawa suburb of Gloucester. The game was won at 2:21 in the morning[24] in front of 1,200 spectators in the first Consols played on arena ice. This earned them the right to play at the 1972 Macdonald Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship. They were the first rink from the Ottawa area to do so.[25] At the 1972 Brier, they finished with a 6-4 record, tied for third place with Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Coming off their provincial championship and Brier run, the Coombe rink began the 1972–73 season by winning the CBC-TV series in Winnipeg, defeating World champion Orest Meleschuk in the final, followed up by winning the Dunlop Invitational bonspiel in Whitby.[26] The team qualified for the 1973 Consols by defeating the John McCrae rink from Lindsay to begin their title defence.[27] At the Consols, the team finished the round robin event with a 5–4 record, in fifth place, after losing their last three games.[28] Coombe finished the season by winning the Fisherman's Bonspiel in Kingston, playing third for friend and on-ice rival, Ted Brown.[29]

In 1976, Coombe announced he was taking a "sabbatical" from competitive play, to focus on his family.[30] He returned for the 1979–80 season to play third for the Dave Van Dine rink,[31] curling out of the RCMP Curling Club. The team made the 1980 provincial championships, where Coome was voted all-star third.[32] The team finished in third in the round robin, in a three-way tie, but lost in a playoff to Bob Fedosa of the Annandale Club in Ajax.[33] The team made it to the provincial championships again in 1982, where they lost in the semifinal to the Toronto Avonlea Club's Dave Walker rink.[34] Knee issues forced Coombe into another retirement in 1983, and was replaced by Earle Morris on the Van Dine rink.[35]

Seniors

[edit]

In 2002, curling third for Van Dine, Coombe made it to the finals of the Ontario Senior Men's Championship.[36]

In 2005, he won the provincial master's championship (curlers over 60 years old), playing third for Rod Matheson.[37] In 2012, again with Matheson, Coombe won the provincial Grand Masters championship, for curlers over 70.[38]

Personal life and death

[edit]

Coombe was born at the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston, Ontario, the son of J. H. Coombe and Doris Irene Clyde.[39]

He was a survey technician, working for the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton,[2] later the City of Ottawa Survey and Mapping Department.[40] At the time of the 1972 Brier, he was working with the Regional Loan Department of the federal government. He briefly lived in Toronto while taking a provincial land surveyors course, and was scheduled to take his final exams at the same time as the Brier.[41]

Coombe died from cancer on May 22, 2026, at the age of 85. He was married to Lynda Jeffrey, and had two children.[40]

Honours

[edit]

In 2000, Coombe and his 1972 Consols winning team were inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame.[42]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame
  2. 1 2 3 "Realization of a dream". Ottawa Citizen. February 26, 1972. p. 39. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Glebe Collegiate Rink Wins C.B. Hermann Trophy Event". Ottawa Citizen. March 9, 1960. p. 16. Retrieved May 28, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Ridgemont Drops Cole Cup Playoff". Ottawa Citizen. April 7, 1961. p. 14. Retrieved May 28, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Ottawa Curlers Likely to Retain Grand Aggregate Championship". Ottawa Journal. March 12, 1962. p. 12. Retrieved May 28, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Knipperberg loses to longshot". Ottawa Citizen. February 16, 1963. p. 11. Retrieved May 28, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Coombe wins Jubilee with last rock". Ottawa Citizen. January 24, 1966. p. 16. Retrieved May 28, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Ottawa Club Captures Governor General's Trophy". Ottawa Journal. February 5, 1966. p. 14. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Eldon Coombe Sweeps Canadian Branch Titles". Ottawa Journal. February 28, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Coombe's OCC Rink Wins Pre-Brier 'Spiel". Ottawa Journal. March 6, 1967. p. 18. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Coombe reaches Ont. curling finals". Ottawa Journal. January 24, 1972. p. 15. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Young winning Ottawa rink". Ottawa Citizen. January 22, 1968. p. 13. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Coombe comes from behind to capture area Consols title". Ottawa Citizen. January 18, 1968. p. 22. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  14. ↑ "This didn't hurt the Doc at all". Toronto Telegram. February 12, 1968. p. 18. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Coombe quartet Consols bound". Ottawa Citizen. January 24, 1969. p. 18. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Buchan, Creber Only Unbeaten Skips". Ottawa Journal. February 7, 1969. p. 12. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Coombe quartet does it again". Ottawa Citizen. November 17, 1969. p. 20. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Coombe's Rink Sharp In Jubilee Victory". Ottawa Journal. January 26, 1970. p. 16. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Coombe and Winford make provincial final". Ottawa Citizen. January 19, 1970. p. 16. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  20. ↑ "Final rock gives Paul Savage trip to Brier". Globe and Mail. February 9, 1970. p. 16. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Coombe regains Uplands title, Mulligan takes second flight". Ottawa Journal. November 15, 1971. p. 22. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  22. ↑ "Shop Talk". Ottawa Citizen. January 25, 1971. p. 15. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Begin, Coombe Join Ranks to Win City of Ottawa Spiel". Ottawa Journal. March 23, 1971. p. 18. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Coombe survives pressure in the wee hours". Ottawa Journal. February 7, 1972. p. 13. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Ottawa's Eldon Coombe wins OCA title at 3 a.m." Kingston Whig-Standard. February 7, 1972. p. 11. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Coombe rink no 'homer'". Toronto Star. December 4, 1972. p. 26. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Coombe in Consols Morris eliminated". Ottawa Journal. January 29, 1973. p. 16. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  28. ↑ "Paul Savage takes Ontario title with perfect record". Ottawa Journal. February 12, 1973. p. 15. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Brown plus Coombe adds up to victory". Kingston Whig-Standard. April 9, 1973. p. 17. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  30. ↑ "'A Sabbatical only' – Coombe". Ottawa Journal. October 9, 1976. p. 18. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  31. ↑ "Eldon Coombe roars again". Ottawa Journal. October 13, 1979. p. 20. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  32. ↑ "Eldon Coombe chosen as star after long playoff". Ottawa Journal. February 18, 1980. p. 17. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  33. ↑ "Penetang rink wins Ontario title in playoff". Ottawa Journal. February 18, 1980. p. 17. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  34. ↑ "London rink takes provincial title". Ottawa Citizen. February 15, 1982. p. 20. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  35. ↑ "Morris returns to local curling". Ottawa Citizen. September 21, 1983. p. 54. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  36. ↑ "Final on Van Dine's menu". Ottawa Citizen. December 22, 2002. p. 20. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  37. ↑ "Area Curlers Rock in 2005". Ottawa Citizen. April 4, 2005. p. 29. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  38. ↑ "Life lesson for a party guy ski ace". Ottawa Citizen. April 2, 2012. p. 18. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  39. ↑ "Births". Kingston Whig-Standard. May 8, 1941. p. 19. Retrieved May 28, 2026.
  40. 1 2 "Eldon Coombe".
  41. ↑ "Coombe 1st Ottawan to represent Ontario in curling final". Globe and Mail. February 8, 1972. p. 33. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  42. ↑ "Hall of Fame rolls out carpet for eight new members". Ottawa Citizen. October 24, 2000. p. 24. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
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