Norman (Norm) Perry (June 1, 1904 in

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron fl ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

– November 17, 1957 in Sarnia, Ontario) was a Canadian football player in the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt th ...

for the

Sarnia Imperials The Sarnia Imperials were a football team from Sarnia, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League and contested for the Grey Cup until 1955. In their history, the Imperials appe ...

for eight seasons. He was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

in 1963 and into

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canad ...

in 1975.

Early life

Born in 1904, Perry exhibited talent in

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Perry turned down offers to play professional football in the United States, since his

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...

refinery job in Sarnia's Chemical Valley offered better pay.

Career

Sports

Perry played for the Sarnia Imperials for eight years, leading the team to seven Ontario Rugby Football Union titles and one Grey Cup title (1934, 22nd Grey Cup against the

Regina Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

). Known for his speed, Perry scored 33 touchdowns in eight seasons (six regular games plus playoff games per season), and held a record for the most touchdowns scored in three consecutive years. He was named League

Most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in 1934. A leg injury forced his retirement in 1935. Perry served as president of the Ontario Rugby Football Union in 1953, ten years before his induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Politics

In 1936, Perry ran for and was elected to an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

position on the Sarnia

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. Three years later, at age 34, Perry was elected 56th

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of the city of Sarnia. Perry serviced one term before being defeated in his 1940 attempt at re-election.

Industry

Perry worked at the

refinery in

's chemical valley, serving as the safety supervisor and as an advisory board member for the Industrial Accident Prevention Association.

Honours

The ''Norm Perry Park'' (formerly Sarnia Athletic Field, also known as ''Norm Perry Memorial Park'') in Sarnia, Ontario, is named in honour of Norm Perry; the park is home to the

football team.

References

External links

* 1904 births 1957 deaths Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Ontario Rugby Football Union players Players of Canadian football from Ontario Sarnia Imperials players Sportspeople from Sarnia {{Canadianfootball-runningback-stub