Mary Rose Thacker

Class of 1995: Athlete

Learning to skate at the age of three at the Winnipeg Winter Club in 1925, this skater’s career spanned seven decades and she always remained proud of her Prairie roots. In 1939 at the age of 16, in her first year at the senior level, Mary Rose claimed the Canadian and North American Ladies titles and was named Canada’s Athlete of the Year; accomplishments she repeated in 1941. Named to the 1940 Olympic Team, she was denied the opportunity to compete at the world level due to the outbreak of World War II. Following her third Canadian title in 1942 she retired from amateur competition and turned her talents to coaching. In 1947 she opened the first summer skating school in British Columbia and for the next 35 years passed along her talents to thousands of young skaters and coaches.