Dave Garinger (Photo from George Funeral Home website)
WOAA Life Member Dave Garinger has passed away.
Garinger, born in 1949, died peacefully with family by his side on Sunday, Feb. 27.
An obituary from George Funeral Home in Wiarton says Garinger grew up in the Oil Springs area in southwestern Ontario, where he received his professional teaching credentials from London Teachers’ College.
He moved to the Bruce Peninsula with his wife in 1975.
Garinger was an avid softball player and sports fan, following all sports, but specifically hockey and baseball.
In 1996, Garinger was elected to the WOAA Board of Directors and in 2006, he filled in as president for the short term. In addition, he also served as 2nd Vice-President for a year and was elected as 1st Vice-President from 2004 to 2021.
Garinger also worked on the WOAA Capital Campaign Fundraising Committee from 2002 to 2007.
In 2002, Dave started a 20-year rune as WOAA Minor Hockey Chairman as well as the OMHA Regional Executive Member for the WOAA area. During his tenure, he served and chaired on virtually every OMHA Committee, including a long standing appointment to Development both at the OMHA and Ontario Hockey Federation levels, serving as the OMHA Development Committee Chair, the Chair of many OHF Championships, and the Chair of Hockey Canada Program of Excellence Regional and Provincial Under-17 Camps for several years.
In 2001, Garinger received the inaugural Owen Sound Sun Times Teacher Award for classroom excellence.
As part of the WOAA 75th Anniversary celebrations in 2017, Garinger was named as one of the WOAA Community Sports Builders. It recognizes volunteers who have served a minimum of 20 years in promoting, organizing, and maintaining hockey, softball, and baseball in WOAA communities.
In 2019, Garinger received the WOAA David H. Jacobi Memorial President’s Award to acknowledge the person considered to have significantly contributed to the betterment of the organization.
In 2021, Garinger was selected as a WOAA Life Member as recommended by the Board of Directors and approved by the membership as an individual who rendered a minimum of 20 years of faithful and contributory services to the corporation.
Garinger cherished the friendships he earned both in his teaching career and in volunteering alongside his colleagues in the WOAA and OMHA.
Garinger is survived by his wife Bev, sons Edward and Joseph, grandchildren Juregen and Amelia, in-laws Ralph and Lousie, Dan and Eileen, Sherry, Pat, and many nephews, nieces, and their families.