Hector Joseph "The Friendly Giant" Gervais (November 4, 1933 – July 19, 1997) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. He was a two-time
Brier
Briar, Briars, Brier, or Briers may refer to:
* Briar, or brier, common name for a number of unrelated thorny plants that form thicket
People
* Brier (surname)
* Briers, a surname
* Briars (surname)
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champion and former
World Champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
. In curling strategy, he is considered to be the inventor of the corner guard.''Edmonton Journal'', 22 Jul 1997, pg D3, "Quick wit, outside guards were Gervais trademarks"
Gervais broke into the curling scene in the late 1950s, and in 1960 he teamed up with curling great Matt Baldwin to play in the Alberta provincials that year. Despite being considered a "super squad", the team didn't make it out of the province and disbanded after the season. Gervais would form his own team of Ron Anton,
Ray Werner
Raymond Werner (c. 1935 – May 17, 1998) was the third on the Alberta Avenue CC curling team (from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) during the World Curling Championships known as the 1961 Scotch Cup. He died in 1998.Wally Ursuliak. This team would win the Alberta provincials, and also won that year's
Macdonald Brier
The Tim Hortons Brier, or simply (and more commonly) the Brier (''french: Le Brier''), is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The current event name refers to its main sponsor, the Tim Hortons coffee and ...
. The team (with Vic Raymer in place of Anton) closed the season by winning the 1961 Scotch Cup, becoming World Champions. At the time, the "gentle giant" weighed 270 pounds. ''Regina Leader-Post'', March 22, 1961
The Gervais rink would return to the Brier again in 1962, but lost in a playoff to Ernie Richardson's Saskatchewan rink.
Gervais would not return to the Brier until 1970. At that Brier, his team of Bill Mitchell, Wayne Saboe and Bill Tainsh posted an impressive 8-2 record, but it would only be good for second place, finishing behind Manitoba's
Don Duguid
Donald Gordon Duguid (born January 25, 1935) is a Canadian champion curler. A three-time winner of the Canadian Brier and two-time World Curling champion, Duguid won the Brier in 1965, 1970 and 1971, and the Worlds in 1970 and 1971. He was on ...
.
Gervais made his last trip to the Brier in 1974. He re-united with Anton and teamed up with Warren Hansen and Darrel Sutton. The team again finished with an 8-2 record. This time it was good enough to win the Brier. The win sent them to the 1974 World Championships. The team finished in fourth place, after losing its semi-final matchup to Sweden 8-7.
Gervais, who weighed between 285 and 340 pounds during his curling career,''
Calgary Herald
The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network.
History
''The ...
'', 21 Jul 1997, pg D7, "Curling legend Hec Gervais dies" had heart problems for much of his later life. In 1987, he had undergone heart surgery. He succumbed to a heart attack and died in 1997.
Personal life
Gervais was a potato farmer and raised chickens on a farm outside of St. Albert. He would later be the manager of the Avonair Curling Club. He was married twice, and had five children and two stepchildren. In addition to curling, he played three preseason games for the
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...