By Elizabeth Peirce |
In 1962, Paul Puma, then a Grade 13 student athlete attending St. Michaels College School in Toronto, received a phone call that would change his life. It was Elmer MacGillivary, former coach of the Saint Mary’s University football team. MacGillivary had just seen the St. Mike’s team play in an exhibition game, and he wanted to know if their star fullback would consider moving East to play for the Saint Mary’s squad.
Puma was dubious. “I had no intention of going to university because no one in my family had even completed high school. But I decided to take a chance. I came down to Halifax by train in the fall of 1963. I didn’t know one other person coming down.”
Paul was quick to make friends with his new teammates and with his adopted city of Halifax. His football squad finished the 1964 season as winners of the Atlantic Bowl, and was later inducted into the Saint Mary’s Sport Hall of Fame.
After finishing his education degree, he began a 27-year teaching career in the Spryfield area, with his four culminating years spent as principal of J.L Ilsley High School. He earned a reputation as an involved, hands-on administrator: “We had close to 1000 students and if I didn’t know them by name, at least I knew who they were.”
After his retirement in 1997, Paul began a 10-year association with the Royal Canadian Legion, where he helped organize the delivery of Call to Remembrance, an educational programme designed to help junior high school students understand the role Canadian veterans played in our country’s history. He also tended bar for more than a decade post-retirement at an old Halifax landmark, The Midtown Tavern. Some might not call that much of a retirement, but as Paul explains, “I’m someone who has always needed to keep busy.”
In 2002, forty years after that memorable phone call, Paul received another invitation from his alma mater. This time, he was asked if he’d like to be Chair of the Saint Mary’s Sport Hall of Fame. He accepted, and for the next seventeen years, presided over the committee responsible for selecting 39 athletes, 5 builders, and 11 teams for induction to the illustrious Hall. Highlights of his tenure include overseeing the writing of Huskies in Pursuit of Excellence: 1951- 2012, a history of athletics at Saint Mary’s, and his involvement in the launching of an interactive sports kiosk in 2017.
One of the best parts of his job as Chair, Paul says, was notifying the recipients of their induction into the Hall of Fame, something that always made him feel both “elated and fulfilled.”
His old friend and teammate Dave Murphy praised what Paul was able to accomplish during his long career as Chair: “To me, the Hall of Fame is Paul Puma. He put so much time and effort into it, his whole heart and soul. What he’s done for Saint Mary’s is unbelievable….”
Since his departure from Chair duties in September 2019, Paul continues to keep a busy schedule. He recently joined forces with well-known CBC sports announcer Steve Armitage to produce a series of videos about Saint Mary’s sports history, going all the way back to 1953 when the former Saint Mary’s school made the move to its present home on Robie Street.
What are some of the qualities that make Paul Puma stand out? His friend Dave Murphy is quick to answer: “Diligent, caring, incisive, intelligent, loyal, and a leader—that’s Paul.”
