November 26, 1940 - January 1, 2025
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dave Stockdale on Wednesday, January 1st, 2025.
Dave was born in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England in 1940, the second of four children, to Frank and Mary Stockdale. His father served as a cook in WWII and Dave had vivid memories as a young child in wartime England. He loved to tell his wartime stories.
After completing secondary school he attended St. John's College in York where he qualified to be a teacher. He taught for three years in Rotherham and then decided he wanted to head out to see the world. It was a toss up between Australia and Canada and when a friend showed him an ad from Northland School Division in Alberta which said "Come to the land of the moose, the mighty Peace River. No weaklings need apply" his choice was made. He applied and was hired. He sailed from Liverpool on July 25, 1965 and arrived in Canada on August 17th, 1965.
Dave was placed in a two room school on a First Nation Reserve called Chard, about 30 miles from Fort MacMurray which was not yet a boom town.
In the summer he decided to further his education so attended summer school at the U of A in Edmonton. He connected with a group of Australian rugby players and spent many summers playing the game he loved with his team, the Druids.
In the fall of 1966 Dave transferred to the school in Grouard where he and Val met. In the summer of 1967 they travelled up the Alaska highway with relatives and the Yukon became the focus of his next adventure.
Dave taught Phys Ed at F.H. Collins Secondary School and coached various sports teams. The highlight of his two years there was assisting with the organizing of the Polar Games for high school students and then taking on the organizing job the next year. After two years at FHC he took on the position of teacher/principal in the mining town of Clinton Creek for a year. He then returned to Whitehorse and taught in Takhini, Jack Hulland and Whitehorse Elementary schools and retired from Elijah Smith Elementary in 1995.
In 1972, on his return to Whitehorse from a sabbatical year in Edmonton, Dave revamped the Polar Games and made it a much anticipated yearly event for students in grades 5 and 6 from around the Territory. Dave organized the games even after his retirement from teaching until health issues forced him to turn the task over to others in 2020.
Dave's involvement with Table Tennis began in 1968, the year he arrived in the Yukon. He participated as a player, winning several medals, and as a coach in numerous Arctic Winter Games beginning in 1970 and fought successfully to have the sport reinstated after it was dropped from the games. Dave was President of Yukon Table Tennis from 1970 to 1980 and was on the Board of the Canadian Table Tennis Association during those years.
He was a chairman at the Canadian National Championships held in Whitehorse at the old Jim Light Arena in 1974. He organized a successful Western Canada Table Tennis championship in 2006 as a test event for the Canada Winter Games to be held in Whitehorse in 2007. He then went on to be the organizer for a very successful Table Tennis event in the Canada Winter Games.
Dave organized clinics for club members to qualify as National umpires. He also brought about a friendly competition between Yukon and Alaska which took place for several years with teams alternating between Whitehorse and Fairbanks. He received the award for Administrator of the Year in 2001 for his work with Table Tennis.
In 1971 Dave organized an elementary school soccer league and that was the beginning of his long career as coach, manager, promoter, fundraiser, grant seeker, tournament organizer, and player advocate for the sport of Soccer. Dave was President of Yukon Soccer Association from 1997-2004. He received Coach of the year in 1982.
Dave was inducted into the Sport Yukon Hall of Fame in 1987 in recognition of his volunteer work with soccer and table tennis. Dave, with a team of volunteers, organized the Rendezvous Fun Fair for 25 years, first as a fund raiser for Table Tennis and then for Yukon Soccer.
Dave's involvement in sport awarded him many opportunities. In 1973 he was asked to attend the Summer Games in Burnaby as Chef de Mission. He was President of the Yukon Sports Federation from 1977-1979 and was President of YRAC for four years. He was present in all but three Arctic Winter Games until 2014, either as a participant, coach or City rep.
In 1983, with the encouragement of his brother-in-law, Dave made his bid for a seat on Whitehorse City Council and won the seat. That win was followed by ten consecutive wins which covered a time frame of over 30 years and on April 7th, 2014 Dave was celebrated with a small gathering at City Hall as the longest serving Yukon politician, a personal goal achieved.
Dave believed totally in the importance of being a volunteer in his community. He was the fundraising chair for the Whitehorse Food Bank for several years. He volunteered his time for many years with the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle fundraiser. Over the years Dave was the recipient of numerous awards for his volunteerism.
He received a Paul Harris Fellow from the Rotary Club in 1988. He received the Queen's Golden Jubilee medal and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal. Dave acquired the Commissioner's award in 2008. In 2016, he received the Hanseatic Award from AYC in recognition of his work in municipal politics.
In 2024 Dave was greatly honoured to receive the Order of Yukon from Commissioner Adeline Weber for his long time involvement in the development of soccer and table tennis in the Yukon.
Dave endured a long battle with spinal stenosis which in the last five years severely affected his mobility. He fought the battle with courage and determination.
Dave is survived by his wife, Val his children Ashley (Naomi) Stockdale, Jonathan (Vivian) Stockdale, Courtney (Cameron) Rouse; his grandchildren; Ema, Rei, Sara, Tyler, Ella, Claire, and Charlotte; his sister Carol (Tom Burton), his brother Paul (Anne) Stockdale; his sister-in-law, Penny Ferbey, his brother-in-law, Bob (Dixie) Jones; his Yukon nephews, Theron Ferbey and Justin (Rika) Ferbey and their children, and many nieces and nephews in England. He will be greatly missed by all.
Dave's family wishes to thank Dr. Lambert, Truska Gorrell and Penny Ferbey, for their unending support, and the wonderful, compassionate staff at Thompson Centre for taking such good care of Dave in his last months of life.
A celebration of life will be held in August 2025. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Whitehorse Food Bank.