Personal Life
Bieksa was born in Grimsby, Ontario, on June 16, 1981, to Al Bieksa and Angela Lombardo. He has two brothers, Marty and Bryan, two stepsisters, Terri Lynn and Jennifer, and a stepmother, Lori. His father works in the Ontario Federation of Labour and coached his three sons during minor hockey. Bieksa began playing minor hockey in Grimsby before joining AAA teams from Stoney Creek, Ontario. After attending Blessed Trinity Secondary School in his hometown, he graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in finance and a 3.42 grade point average.
Bieksa and his wife, Katie, have one son, Cole Walter, born October 24, 2007, and one daughter, Reese, born October 7, 2009. They have a home in Smithville, Ontario, close to Bieksa's hometown of Grimsby, Ontario.
During Bieksa tenure with both the Manitoba Moose and Vancouver Canucks, he became close friends with teammate Rick Rypien, who committed suicide in August 2011 after years of clinical depression. Bieksa was the first Canucks teammate that Rypien confided in regarding his mental health; when Rypien took his first personal leave of absence from the Canucks in the 2008–09 NHL season, Bieksa took him into his home to live with his family. Having a close relationship with Rypien, Bieksa was involved in many of the ceremonies following his death. He was a pall bearer for Rypien's casket at his funeral in Alberta and he later presented Rypien's family with one of the forward's game-worn Canucks jerseys during the team's pre-game ceremony in Rypien's honour in October 2011.
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