HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-10-24, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019.
Long-time Lion, Stanley Cup engraver dies at 86
ERNIE JOHN PHILLIPS
Ernie John Phillips of RR2, Blyth,
a man known locally for his
philanthropy and volunteerism and
internationally for his work in
engraving several National Hockey
League (NHL) trophies, including
the Stanley Cup, passed away
peacefully at his home in the
morning hours of Oct. 20. Born on
Aug. 6, 1933, Ernie was 86.
Ernie was born in Sussex,
England, growing up during the
Second World War. He experienced
tremendous hardship and loss during
his family’s time in England. As a
young boy, his father and several
aunts and uncles were killed at a
birthday party when the house was
bombed during the war. Ernie was
the only person to make it out of the
room alive, though his mother and
sister had survived in another part of
the house.
For years, Ernie served as a choir
boy and the Protestant Church
served as a major influence in his
life in England.
After coming to Canada and
landing in Montreal, Ernie was just
15 when he decided to leave school,
but in doing so, he already knew he
had a knack for the arts. With dreams
of being an artist or an architect,
Ernie could already see he was
gifted when it came to drawing.
However, his dreams were thrown
a bit of a curveball just before he left
school when he was working with
water colours in class, painting a
vase of blue roses on the teacher’s
desk. Set to a chorus of laughter
from his fellow students, Ernie was
informed that the roses were actually
pink and that was when he learned
he was colour-blind – a major
stumbling block if he hoped to
become an artist.
He would leave school before his
16th birthday and started working as
a messenger boy in Montreal,
delivering trophies for local engraver
Bert Light.
One day, Light asked Ernie if he
could draw, asking him to reproduce
the flag of the day’s Montreal
Gazette. He passed the test and was
soon put on an apprenticeship track
that would see him begin engraving
smaller items in the late 1940s.
Ernie would work for Light for
nearly 20 years, eventually striking
out on his own for another decade
before moving to the Blyth area to
start a new chapter of his life.
During those 30 years, Ernie
would work on some of the
country’s most well-known trophies,
including engraving the Stanley Cup
and many of the NHL’s annual
awards, such as the Hart Memorial
Trophy for the season’s most
valuable player, the Lady Byng
Memorial Trophy for the season’s
most sportsmanlike player, the
Calder Memorial Trophy for the
rookie of the year and the Conn
Smythe Trophy for the most
valuable player in the playoffs, his
personal favourite.
In addition to his work on the
NHL trophies, which included 15-
inch miniature Stanley Cups for
every player on the season’s winning
team, Ernie would also go on to
engrave the Canadian Football
League’s Grey Cup, the Brier
Trophy (for the winner of the annual
Canadian men’s curling
championship) and countless other
accolades for ski
clubs, curling clubs
and hockey teams. He
also worked on beer
steins for a number of
clients, including a
local Irish rugby team
and the Royal
Canadian Air Force.
One of Ernie’s most
memorable creations,
and definitely his most
challenging, was a pair
of Canadian maple
carvings he completed
for Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau as a
gift for the Chinese
government.
Chinese words, he
said, needed to be
engraved with such
accuracy and
sophistication that it
tested his nerves. The
smallest deviation
could change the word
entirely.
One of Ernie’s most
enduring legacies,
however, was
essentially recreating
the Stanley Cup in
1969 after it had
suffered nearly 80
years of abuse and
celebration at the
hands of the world’s
best hockey players.
In 1969, the NHL decided to retire
the original cup to the Hockey Hall
of Fame and commissioned Carl
Peterson to build an exact replica.
Ernie and Light were hired to
engrave the new bowl atop the cup
and were ordered to replicate the
original exactly.
This was tricky, Phillips said,
because in the early days, the
original cup often didn’t make it
beyond the nearest tavern after a
team won it. Frustrated that their
names weren’t yet engraved on the
cup, players would sometimes, by
way of a pen knife or any other sharp
object they could find, take matters
into their own hands.
Ernie and Light engraved the new
cup, complete with players’ names
scratched in. This cup is now the
Stanley Cup today’s hockey fans
know and love.
A year before Ernie was charged
with recreating one of the world’s
most famous sports trophies, he
married Emily Charlotte Smith, the
love of his life.
Ernie and Emily were living in
Montreal at the time and were
married at Newcastle United Church
on June 22, 1968. They first met at a
party in Montreal and overcame
humble beginnings and breakfast-
for-dinner Christmas meals in their
small Montreal apartment to
celebrate their 50th wedding
anniversary last year in Blyth with
family members and friends.
They had two children, Karen
Glousher (Bill) of Brussels and Les
Phillips (Heather) of Goderich, and
four grandchildren, Bryce and Brett
Glousher and Tyler and Elizabeth
Phillips.
When Ernie and Emily moved to
the Blyth area, they immediately got
involved in the community.
Ernie joined the Blyth Lions Club
and remained an active member for
over 30 years until the time of his
death, serving as the club’s treasurer
for a number of years and the chair
of the sight committee.
Ernie would often put his skills to
work in the community at no cost to
local organizations, engraving
trophies for the Lions Club, the now-
closed Blyth Public School, the
Blyth Legion and local churches and
hockey teams, never asking for
payment in return. He even penned
the Lions Club’s membership
certificates during his time as a Lion.
In 2016, Ernie was named Citizen
of the Year for Blyth by North Huron
Publishing Inc., the same year he
was honoured by the Ministry of
Citizenship, Immigration and
International Trade with an Ontario
Volunteer Service Award.
Ernie was also named a life
member of Multiple District A and
the Lions Foundation of Canada.
In addition to his wife Emily, his
children and grandchildren, Ernie is
survived by his sister Kathleen
Swales of Penticton, British
Columbia. He was predeceased by
his father Charles, his mother Daisy
Hollister and his stepfather Harlow
Hollister.
Visitation will be held at Falconer
Funeral Homes Blyth Chapel on
Wednesday, Oct. 23 from 2-4 p.m.
and from 7-9 p.m. A Lions Club
funeral service will precede the
evening visitation.
Ernie’s funeral will be held at
Blyth United Church on Thursday,
Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. Interment at Blyth
Union Cemetery will follow.
While he loved flowers, Ernie’s
eyesight was paramount, given his
chosen career and artistic passion. In
lieu of flowers, the family asks that
you consider a donation to the Lions
Foundation of Canada Guide Dog
Program.
To visit Ernie’s online memorial,
visit falconerfuneralhomes.com.
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Obituaries
A life well-lived
Ernie Phillips of RR2, Blyth, left, passed away in the early morning hours
of Oct. 20 at the age of 86. He is seen here receiving his Citizen of the
Year award from Citizen Editor Shawn Loughlin in late 2016. (File photo)