Campbell "Geeses" MacGillivray
The late Pilot Officer Campbell “Geeses” MacGillivray was born on June 17, 1921 and it was during his Alexandria High School years that Campbell’s reputation as an exceptionally gifted all-round athlete in skill and in sportsmanship emerged. Campbell seized opportunities to play as many sports as possible and excelled in all that he played, notably, track and field, hockey, soccer and lacrosse. Amongst his high school friends and in the Glengarry community, Campbell was affectionately known by the nickname “Geeses”.
The school’s track and field meet was held in the fall, and on these days Geeses displayed his formidable abilities. Over his high school track and field career, Geeses was always one of the top three finishers in the field events of Pole Vault, Shot Put, High, Broad and Triple Jump, and on the track for 100, 220, 440, and 880 yard races. As a result of his consistent top finishes in all events that he entered, Geeses earned the distinct honour of winning the Senior Men’s Track and Field trophy for four consecutive years beginning in Grade 9 in 1937 through to Grade 12 in 1940. A similar feat has never since been repeated.
Geeses was a member for the Alexandria High School hockey team, playing either as the team centre forward or on defence as needed. In the early spring of 1941, the school hockey team won the Glengarry-Prescott Championship Trophy in a league consisting of school teams from Maxville, Vankleek Hill, Hawkesbury English and Hawkesbury French. That season, the Alexandria team went undefeated. Geeses served as team captain and led the team in scoring, netting 25 goals in eight league games. The final score on this snowy evening was 6 – 5 for Alexandria, with Geeses scoring 5 of the team’s goals. Later, at a school sports banquet held at the Alexander Hall, Geeses was presented the Powers Trophy, recognizing the AHS team as league champions of the Prescott and Glengarry Intercollegiate Hockey League.
While a student at AHS, Geeses’ exceptional hockey skills saw him recruited to play with the Cardinals, Alexandria’s entry in the Glengarry Junior Hockey League in 1939. The season opener was played in Martintown, and Campbell scored 3 of the goals in the 8-1 win over the home team. During that year he also played in the Cornwall O.C.O.T Juvenile League as a member of the Alexandria Red Blacks hockey team.
Many years later, in 1968, former school and teammates, sought permission from Geeses’ parents to name a trophy in honour of their friend to recognize the best hockey player in Glengarry. At the time, “Sports in the Glens” columnist for the Glengarry News Angus H. McDonell wrote, “It was an unanimous opinion of the Lions Club Sport committee that no young hockey player of any era in Glengarry showed more potential than the late Campbell MacGillivray, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.J. MacGillivray of Kirk Hill.” Thus, Geeses’ parents donated the J. Campbell MacGillivray Memorial Trophy in their son’s memory to the Alexandria Lions Club for presentation at its annual Sportsman’s Dinner.
Geeses was previously inducted into the Glengarry Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 as a member of the Pine Grove Football (soccer) team during the years 1938 to 1941, where he played the offensive inside position. Geeses contributed invaluably to this Pine Grove team winning four GSL league titles, three GSL championships, and two Ottawa Valley Championships, all with an incredible 36-game undefeated streak. More specifically, during the league playoff run in 1940, Geeses scored 6 of the team’s 8 goals, enough to earn Pine Grove the championship. Advancing to the Ottawa Valley Championship, Pine Grove went on to defeat the Ottawa League champions, the Ottawa Corinthians. Pine Grove outscored Ottawa 5 goals to 1, and Geeses again led his team in netting 3 of the 5 goals. Not surprisingly, Geeses received the GSL top scorer award in the 1941 season.
When not on the soccer field or the ice rink, MacGillivray was recruited to play with the Alexandria Lacrosse team when the team was short players. In one game against Dalhousie, Alexandria won 8 to 5 and Campbell scored 6 of the goals. Geeses played almost any sport that he could. During these years, he played baseball for the Kirk Hill church team, where he played the position of pitcher and once again led his team to win a local tournament.
Geeses’ sports accomplishments end here and what could have become of his future as an elite amateur or professional athlete can only be imagined. Following high school, Campbell (Geeses) MacGillivray enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in July of 1942. He trained in Toronto and Goderich before completing his pilot’s course in Brandon, Manitoba, where he “won his wings”. Sgt. MacGillivray went to England in the spring of 1943. He was the pilot of a Lancaster bomber and flew his first of 8 missions on December 1, 1943. His plane was shot down on January 21, 1944. His gravesite located in the Berlin Commonwealth Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Germany.
The war took its toll on young lives that had not achieved their potential in so many ways and the loss of Pilot Officer Campbell (Geeses) MacGillivray is one such tragic example. In his short life before going to war he left a lasting and indomitable impression in Glengarry sports lore.
