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Passion for sport to led to canoe club
TRIBUTES have been paid to the founding father of Sunderland's once thriving canoe club.
Don Howe, of Ripon Street, Roker, has lost a battle with cancer, at the age of 80.
The dad-of-two, and his passion for outdoor sports, led to him becoming a well-know figure in Roker and the marina.
So enthusiastic was he about the sport, he set up the Sunderland Canoe Club in March, 1961.
It went on to thrive for more than 30 years and only came to a close when the development of Sunderland's North Dock meant that the club lost its premises.
Son Dave Howe, 54, said: "He had an interest in canoeing from as long as I can remember.
"He would always go on river trips and wanted to get like-minded people together to form a canoeing club.
"He teamed up with one of the local MPs at the time, Harry Peart, who helped him to get funds for premises on the edge of the North Dock."
He added: "He was an inspirational character and had a magnetic personality, which drew people to the club."
The club had considerable success, producing top sportsman such as Keith Wickham.
Keith, who was a member from 1962 until the club folded in 1994, said: "A lot of the members consider our days at the canoe club as the happiest of our lives and we have Don to thank for that.
"One of Don's biggest successes was the creation of premises at our wonderful old North Dock. There are clubs up and down the country that don't have the kind of premises we had.
"From that foundation the club went on to compete all over Europe. For some time the selected squad for the British Canoe Union Slalom and White Water Race team were made up of canoeists from the Sunderland club. I was fortunate enough to be one of them."
Another of Don's legacies was to establish the annual Boxing Day race from Durham to Finchale, which is still going strong 47 years later.
Don started his working life at Scraftons Builders and then became a woodwork teacher, first at West Southwick School and later moving to Red House.
His enthusiasm for encouraging others to take up canoeing also led to him becoming an instructor at Derwent Hill activities centre in the Lake District.
Even until his final months, Don and wife Doreen, 76, were regulars at Sunderland's seafront taking walks along the coast every day.
His wake was held at Trattoria Due, in the Marine Activities Centre – just yards from the site of the former canoe club – where the grandad was a regular.
He leaves children Dave and Christine, 50, and three grandchildren, Rebecca, 25, Steven, 23, and Michelle, 20.
Funds which were left over when the canoe club folded will be donated to St Benedict's Hospice on Newcastle Road in memory of Don.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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