Death and Family
Siebert never had the opportunity to take up his new post. On August 25, 1939, while vacationing with his family and swimming with his daughters at Lake Huron, he drowned attempting to retrieve an inflatable tire they were playing with. Shocked by the news, Siebert's peers lauded his character and play, indicating that his death was a considerable loss to the game of hockey. Among them, his former manager with the Maroons, Tommy Gorman, remarked that Siebert was popular with his fellow players and was a great defenceman who "lost fairly and won modestly".
At the time of his death, Siebert was visiting his cottage to celebrate the 80th birthday of his father, William. He cherished the time he had with his two daughters Judy and Joan, who were 11 and 10 years old respectively, when they witnessed his drowning. His loss represented a significant financial burden for his family as he spent nearly all of his income paying for his wife's medical costs.
The league organized an all-star benefit game to aid Siebert's widow with the goal of raising $15,000. It was the third such benefit game in NHL history. The Montreal Canadiens faced an all-star team composed of the best players from the remaining teams. The all-stars defeated the Canadiens 5–2 in the game held on October 29, 1939. Though organizers were disappointed with the attendance of just 6,000 fans, they met their $15,000 target.
A physical player and fighter on the ice, Siebert was a soft spoken family man off it. He was especially faithful to his wife, Bernice, who was left a paraplegic following complications during the birth of their second child. Fans at the Montreal Forum routinely saw him carry his wife to her seat before every home game, and then carry her out after. At home, he did the housework that his wife was unable to do. As a result, he was immensely popular with his peers and fans.
Siebert was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1964, and is an honoured member of the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.
Read more about this topic: Babe Siebert
Famous quotes containing the words death and/or family:
“For man, maximum excitement is the confrontation of death and the skillful defiance of it by watching others fed to it as he survives transfixed with rapture.”
—Ernest Becker (1924–1974)
“Being in a family is like being in a play. Each birth order position is like a different part in a play, with distinct and separate characteristics for each part. Therefore, if one sibling has already filled a part, such as the good child, other siblings may feel they have to find other parts to play, such as rebellious child, academic child, athletic child, social child, and so on.”
—Jane Nelson (20th century)