Sisco remembered as ‘a mentor and a friend’
Windsor/essex County Sports Hall of Famer left mark in classroom, on the ice
Sam Sisco was an educator whether it was in the classroom or at the rink.
A 2009 inductee into the Windsor/essex County Sports Hall of Fame in the builders’ category, Sisco passed away on Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 85.
“He was a really good man, good person, good father and husband,” said Dan O’halloran, who knew Sisco for 40 years and has been a National Hockey League referee since 1995. “Not many people, I think, you come across in this world that you can’t say a bad word about and Sam was one of those guys. If I can learn anything from him, it’s some of those qualities.”
Sisco spent more than three decades teaching. After starting in Merlin, Sisco spent 31 years teaching mathematics at Herman Secondary School, where he taught several members of the Windsor Spitfires before retiring in 1989.
He also coached hockey at Herman and won a pair of city titles, but it was on the officiating side of the game where Sisco would spend six decades.
“He was one of the most well-respected officials I know,” said Windsor’s Mark Pare, who officiated 2,169 games in the NHL and knew Sisco since 1975. “You’d go into a rink in the IHL (International Hockey League) and back then hockey was a lot rougher. Most of the time, when Sam skated out in front of the two linesmen, people would clap. It wasn’t a Bronx cheer. They knew they were going to get a fair game.”
Sisco began officiating in church leagues in the 1950s and moved up to junior B and junior A as well as working college and university games.
He went on to referee in the IHL for 17 seasons from 1965 to 1982 and called 10 Turner Cup championship finals. That included five deciding Game 7 matches.
“He treated everybody the same from a goal scorer to guy out to do a job,” Pare said. “In the end, they knew Sam was doing what was fair. He had a distinct voice and while he was not a yeller, he made his point.”
From 1970 to 1987, Sisco worked with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association as an instructor for the national referees certification clinic.
“I met him when I was 15 when he supervised my first junior C game in Leamington,” said Mark Hicks, who knew Sisco for 43 years.
“He was a mentor and a friend. He was everything.”
Sisco served as a supervisor of officials with the NHL, American Hockey League, IHL and Ontario Hockey League.
“I spent a lot of time with him,” said Hicks, who was a referee in the OHL and assumed Sisco’s role as a league supervisor when he retired in 2008 after 21 years. “We spent tons of time on the road and had a lot of laughs.
“When he supervised, if you got hit, he was always joking, ‘You were out of position.’ He was a great supervisor. He got his point across, was respectful and kind.”
The OHL honoured Sisco with its Bill Long Award for distinguished service and he was awarded the University of Windsor Sport Achievement Award in 2010.
“He had a lot of calls and visitors over the last few months,” said his son, Ross Sisco. “He died knowing he was loved and appreciated and made a pretty decent impact in this world.”
Sisco is survived by his wife of 58 years, Beverley, along with sons Ross, Sam Jr., Joe and daughter Maria along with seven grandchildren.
Due to the COVID -19 pandemic, a private family service is planned, but the family hopes to hold a celebration of Sisco’s life later this year.