Lorne Johannes

Lorne Johannes, born in Blair, became one of South Waterloo’s best known personalities through his sports and humanitarian activities and organizational abilities.

The Blair Hornets hockey team, of which he was captain, and later manager, repeatedly won hockey championships. Johannes conceived the idea of a rural hockey association and in 1931, founded the Ontario Rural Hockey Association, which eventually had 2,500 players, and the Ontario Rural Softball Association one year later. He was made a life member of both organizations.

Both organizations included teams from most village-sized Ontario communities.

Circulation Manager for the Galt Reporter for forty-five years, Johannes managed 5,000 carrier boys. He served the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship’s Pioneer Camp in Muskoka; the Christian Businessmen, the Gideons, the Guelph Correctional Centre Chaplaincy service, the Forward Baptist Church and Knox Presbyterian Church, Cambridge. He actively promoted the Knox Presbyterian Golden Hour, an extremely successful radio programme. He also served the international Christian Nationals’ Evangelism Commission which works in many Third World Countries.