Family, colleagues remember Dave Stockdale, longtime Whitehorse city councillor and sports advocate

Dave Stockdale, a longtime Whitehorse city councillor and a major booster of sports in the territory, leaves behind a huge legacy in both athletics and politics, say colleagues and family members.

Stockdale, 84, died New Year's Day.

"His legacy is kind of undeniable," said Stockdale's son Ashley. "The amount of things that he's done for the community in terms of his teaching and his sports activities and city council and all of that."

Dave Stockdale was born in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England. He came to Canada to work as a teacher, starting in northern Alberta, before moving to the Yukon in 1965.

In 1970, he started coaching soccer and table tennis. In 1983 he won a seat on Whitehorse city council for the first time. He'd be re-elected 11 more times, becoming one of the longest-serving politicians in Yukon history. He spent more than 30 years as a city councillor.

"I think the very fact that Whitehorse residents were willing to bring him back time and time and time again to city council to respect his views in leading our city is a testament to him," said Whitehorse Mayor Kirk Cameron. "He brought wisdom, he brought perspective, he brought community spirit."

'Well, Dave, I'm glad that we listened to you'

Former city councillor Doug Graham said Stockdale's legacy can be found all over the city.

"He was a great push behind Shipyards Park," Graham said.

"And at first we thought maybe we should use it for building and things like that. But again, he wanted it for people. And now that you look at it and you see how well it's used and how many people are there on almost a daily basis, you think, well, Dave, I'm glad that we listened to you."

Stockdale was also a coach and key advocate for sports in the Yukon, especially table tennis and soccer. Stockdale even won a gold medal in table tennis at the 1980 Arctic Winter Games. He also played a key role building up youth soccer, Ashley Stockdale said. 

In a Facebook post, Table Tennis Yukon described Dave Stockdale as the organization's "driving force" for many years.

"Dave did all the jobs in [table tennis]," the post reads. "He was a player, a coach, an administrator, national representative and an organizer."

Ashley Stockdale said comments like that are helping the family get through a tough time.

"When he was getting near the end, he kind of was in a lot of pain and he was very obviously depressed about it," Ashley said. "So he said, kind of to me, 'What has it all been for?' And I think that this kind of support that we are getting now is what it has all been for.

"He would be very happy to hear what people are saying about him now."