As head coach of the St. Clair College hockey team, Gerry Serviss made the Saints a provincial and national powerhouse on the ice.

Under his guidance, the Saints dominated the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association and competed for national supremacy at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association championships in the late 70s.

Serviss inherited a winning program from former Saints’ coach Jack Costello and he continued to build on that platform.

With Serviss juggling the lines and implementing systems, the Saints won OCAA titles in 1976, ’77 and ’79. They won the CCAA championship with a star-studded lineup in 1976 and earned national bronze in ’77 and ’79.

The 1976 team went undefeated, going 20-0 during the regular season and 6-0 in the playoffs.

Serviss was honored as the OCAA coach of the year and the CCAA coach of the year in 1976 and in 2005, his significant contributions were recognized with his induction into the OCAA Hall of Fame’s coaching category. The following year, St. Clair tipped its cap by renaming its coach of the year award after him.

No slouch as a player himself, Serviss played centre for the Windsor Bulldogs from 1959-64, winning a national title and the prestigious Allan Cup in 1963.

Once he turned his attention to coaching, he directed teams to championships in baseball with Windsor South Little League and hockey with Windsor Minor Hockey.

He served as head coach of the Windsor Spitfires from 1971-73 when they played in the Southern Ontario Junior A League and spent one season as head coach of the Flint Generals in the IHL.

For years he ran the St. Clair Beach hockey school and worked as a college scout for the Detroit Red Wings. He has also served as a board member and advisor of the Junior C Essex 73s.

A native of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Serviss now takes his rightful place in the builder’s category of the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame.