Alexander Robertson was involved in both baseball and hockey as a youth in his hometown of Schumacher Ontario. Our family moved from Woodstock in 1971 where they took up residence in a new home on Meadow Park Drive. Alex worked as an office supervisor for Ontario Hydro, and through some office talk met Bob McCulley, who was quite involved in fastball. It took very little to get Alex to try out umpiring and after that he would miss dinner for 25 years. He began umping in 1972 and he went on to umpire both in men’s and boy’s leagues and soon after began calling strikes for the women’s league! In addition to officiating, Alex sat on the minor baseball executive in many different capacities and held the title of umpire-in-chief as of 1974. He devoted almost all of his time to umpiring and refereeing in all the baseball, ice hockey and then ball hockey leagues as well. Alex was a very recognizable face in the community sports scene for many years and was a part of the group that led to the creation of what is now known as the McCulley-Robertson Ball Diamonds. Although he retired after 30 years, he was pulled out of his self-imposed retirement to officiate some games for the Huntsville men’s slow-pitch league, something he did frequently when the umpire crew was shorthanded. In 1980’s Alex was already an integral part of the sports community, having been an essential part of the growth of Huntsville sports. His dedication to the sport of softball has helped four leagues in Huntsville, the Sportsmen’s league, the inter-Huntsville league, the ladies league and minor ball. He came home with a lot of stiches and bruises over the years, including re breaking his missing arm/ stump a few times. He was proud of his accomplishments and very proud to be an official, for generations of kids and adults alike.
A truly amazing man!