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4 = 5 The IFP - Halton Hills | Thursday, April 28, 2022 | theifp.ca ‘WHAT A TREASURE WE HAD’ PARA SPORTS CHAMPION JOINS SPORTS HALL OF FAME HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com It is far too easy to reduce the impact of COVID to numbers — cases, hospitalizations, deaths. But each death represents the loss of a family member, a friend, and in the case of Barb Monte- murro, all of those and a dedicat- ed volunteer and champion for para s| : Jon Hurst worked with Mon- on the Town of Halton Hills' accessibility committee for Montemurro family photo The late Barbara Montemurro carries the Canadian flag into the Stoke Mandeville World Wheelchair Games in 1990. She's among the four inductees of the Halton Hills Sports Hall of Fame's 2022 class. re than a decade. merBarb was the heart and soul ofour committee. She was sofun- ny," Hurst said. "She loved being there. She felt she could make a difference." While Hurst said it was clear from the meetings that Monte- ml las very knowledgeable and brought a wealth of experi- ence, she never brought up her background. It wasn't until her 360 Guelph St., Unit 44 Georgetown ca (In the Knolcrest Centre) oe HALTON oe AUDIOMETRIC CENTRE HEARING AIDS & AUDIOMETRY Georgetown’s trusted choice for hearing care 905.877.8828 ‘THE! INDEPENDENT ADERS’ f CHOICE 2021 [Armstiong Ave Guelph St. Hwy. 7) T death in January 2021 that he ful- y realized "what a treasure we had’ [ontemurro, who was previ. oust named to the Hall of Fame for the Ontario Wheelchair Sport Association (2008) and the Cana- in Wheelchair Sport Associa- fant (2017), will now join the 2022 class for {he Halton Hills Sports Hall of Fam She will ‘be joined by Sandy Chapman, Chris Sargent and the Georgetown District High School swim team. In the mid: 70s, M Montemurro answered the paper looking for v Molantoors for Vari- ety Village. Soon after she volun- teered at the Paralympics in To- ronto in 1976, which was the be- ginning of a decades-long career in sports. She joined the Ontario re she helda variety of of roles known as murderball, Monte- murro would arrange for pickup james and demonstrations for athletes at the various local and international competitions she attended Gneluding three Para- lympics). She would later serve as man- ager for both the Provincial and Can: teams, work as an official at the national level, bier was in Atlanta when wheel- hair by made its debut as a demonstration sport at the 1996 deter before “becoming presi- oormer Canadian Paralympic Committee president David Legg said it was Montemurro who hired him for what he caned his first "real" job wit Wheelchair Sports Modation “lam eternally indebted to her for her mentorship, leadership and mostly just her kindness," he wrote on Facebook. "She was one of the most genuine and authen- tic people I've ever met." A dedicated Toronto Argo- nauts fan — she had season tick- ets for 70 years — Montemurro worked to promote a similar sport that could be adapted to wheelchair sports. Originally with Canada tak- ing the silver medal. "She like ed how genuine the people were," sa her daughter Sharon Englis Along her M avels she met Queen Elizabeth, PP Charles rince s, Sarah Ferguson and Bob Hope. Even when an eye infection caused her sight to deteriorate, Montemurro never slowed her efforts ic help others. ‘ing really stopped her," said her son Scott. “You realize she was soaccom- plished outside her community, but also did so much inside her community," Hurst said. He add- ed she was a quiet heroine for people with disabilities. Mountainview Residence by the Glen The only family owned & operated retirement home in Halton Hills. Mountainview Residents ongoing activities — sidents enjoy social met to support daily receive the vaccine booster online as we grow to dose and are enjoying meet the needs of our residents and community! 222 Mountainview www.mounta See our new suite plans Located on the cusp > of the Hamlet of Glen Williams rth, Georgetown wresidence.com the best time of your life of food choie