John Edmondson and Ted Colgate
Letter

BY SUSAN DOWN
Times Colonist staff

B.C. lost a devoted golfer with the passing of Ted Colgate, who died Dec. 1 in Powell River. He was 90.

An all-around athlete, he played rugby on a rep team against the New Zealand All-Blacks and enjoyed baseball as well. "He was very co-ordinated," said Dorothy, his wife of 54 years. "Whatever he took up he did well."

But it was golf he truly loved. "He took the game very seriously," said Dorothy, adding that he played every weekend until he was 80 earning five holes-in-one during his playing career.

Club champion at Royal Colwood in 1939 and again in 1940, he also represented the province at the Willingdon Cup inter-provincial competition. He was runner-up in the B.C. Open against Ken Black, Canada's top amateur player in the 1930's. After the war, he served as club captain.

One notable game Colgate played was with boxing champ Joe Louis, who happened to be in town and was looking for a golf match. "They were all pretty excited about that game," said Lawrie Kerr, who caddied for a foursome that included Bob Simpson and Charlie Carnegie.

Kerr, now the longest member of Royal Colwood, recalls playing regularly - 72 holes every weekend - with Colgate after that. "He was a real gentleman, "he said. "And golf can sometimes bring out the worst in a person."

A Victoria High graduate, Colgate served with the South Saskatchewan Regiment in the Second World War. He suffered a couple of injuries during combat - he was shot in the shoulder and had partial hearing loss from an exploding land mine.

Following the war, when he wasn't on the fairways, Colgate was a partner in Reynolds, Colgate and Barber, a Victoria automotive parts business. The Colgates had two children, Susan and George, as well as seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Her husband's prowess on the golf course was an indication of his straight shooting as a person, Dorothy Colgate said. "He believed in not talking about people and always thinking of good."

The Colgates lived in Victoria until Ted was 69. They retired to 100 Mile House before moving to Powell River nine years ago.

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