John "Cliff" Gabel

John "Cliff” Gabel

Sunrise: June 5, 1933. Sunset: February 11th, 2024 with his family by his side. John "Cliff" Gabel was in his 91st year, predeceased by his parents, Floyd J. Gabel (1964) and Winnifred Gabel McGibbon (2007). 

John was born and raised in Kitchener. He was quite athletic and played football, baseball and basketball in high school. His favourite was basketball and he was good enough to lead an ad-hoc basketball team called "The Sultans” to the Canadian championship.

In high school, he met the love of his life, Margaret Anne Hintz. She was a beautiful cheerleader with a heartwarming smile.  He mustered up enough courage to ask her out on a date on her 16th birthday. She always said it was the best birthday present she ever got. The high school sweethearts were married in 1956 and bought a house in Preston (now part of Cambridge). John opened a sporting goods store in Preston called Olympic Sports, which specialized in team sports, bicycles and fishing. With an intense focus on the customer, John worked long hours in the store while Marg was a nurse. In her off hours, she sewed crests and numbers on team order jerseys for the store.

By 1962, they had three children and John had sold the store and was working in sales with Campbell Golf Manufacturing, calling on golf pro shops and sporting goods retailers across Canada. In 1964, they moved into a brand new house in Peel Village in Brampton, which became their home for over 60 years and is still in the family.

John excelled at meeting people and turning them into customers and was promoted to management at Campbell. Shortly after, he was recruited to Cooper Canada where he would rise to become Executive Vice President, Sporting Goods and President of Cooper International.  He was employed at Cooper for over 25 years until the sale of the company in 1987. He would travel across continents to meet customers, suppliers, and open new markets. He was asked to join the Canadian Sporting Goods Association (CSGA) where he served on the Executive Committee and eventually was nominated as President.

In 1992, he came out of retirement to start Mizuno Canada Ltd. as their first President. Three years later, he would split his time between Brampton and Atlanta as President of Mizuno USA, retiring from Mizuno in 1997 after 40 years in the North American sporting goods industry.   

With Margaret at home raising the children, John managed a demanding career but still found time to coach AA/AAA hockey at the bantam, midget and juvenile levels for more than 10 years. John built a skating rink in the backyard, and it grew as the kids grew in size. Trees were removed from the yard; boards were added around the edges of the ice and flood lights were installed for hockey and figure skating. The skating rink was converted to a volleyball court in the summer. 

John pursued his passion for golf as a long-time member of Brampton Golf Club and served as Club President for two years.

John was an active member of St. Bartholomew’s United Church in Brampton for almost 60 years, serving in various capacities as a member of the church board, including as a trustee and Chairman of the Trustees. He was involved in fundraising activities selling oranges and grapefruits and delivering clothing and furniture to needy families.

Once retired, John and Marg would travel to many continents and in the summers open their cottage doors on Caledon Lake for their children and their growing families. 

John is survived by his caring wife, Margaret. They were together for 75 happy years and married for 69 of them. He was a loving, supportive and dedicated father to his children Terry/Mel (Brenda), Jan (Bryan) and Jim (Carrie). To say he was proud of his grandchildren would be an understatement. He was a passionate and enthusiastic fan of his grandchildren and rarely missed Jill, Kelly, Greg, Lindsay, Candace, Haley, John and Melissa playing volleyball, football, basketball, gymnastics, curling, rugby, soccer, dance and running.

We are deeply grateful to the remarkable staff at Tall Pines Long Term Care Centre, who for eight years cared for John and welcomed him and the family into their hearts and lives. Following his stroke in February 2016, their compassionate care and warm hearts were of great comfort to John, Margaret and his children.

Services were held over the family day weekend in Brampton.