Mr. Hockey battling memory loss, family says
Howe’s wife died from a rare form of dementia
Former Detroit Red Wings great Gordie Howe, who has become a voice for awareness of dementia and similar conditions since losing his wife of 56 years, is now facing his own fight with memory loss.
While the actual diagnosis is not clear, his family said the legendary National Hockey League and World Hockey Association player, nicknamed Mr. Hockey, has been suffering from some sort of deterioration in recent years.
Marty Howe, one of Howe’s sons, said that although his father’s memory slips at times, it has not been pinpointed what condition he has.
“He has memory problems, but it is not dementia,” Marty Howe, who also serves as his father’s business manager, said in an e-mail.
“His problems started about seven to eight years ago, so if it were dementia, he would not be with us anymore or so bad that he would not be able to keep up with his appearance schedule.
“Gordie averages three to five appearances a month. Appearances are what keeps him young as he loves meeting and interacting with people and his fans.”
Howe, who turns 84 next month, previously has experienced heartbreak at the hands of dementia.
In March 2009, his wife, Colleen, died from a rare form of dementia, known as Pick’s disease.
Another of Howe’s sons, Murray Howe, an Ohio radiologist, said his father faces the struggles of many other people his age, but he doesn’t believe he has dementia, as stated in other reports Thursday.
He said his father remains a work- horse and is extremely active in his personal life.
“He definitely has short-term memory deficit, but it seems to be very focal,” Murray Howe said Thursday.
“His other cognitive functions are really either as good or better than baseline for an 83-year-old man.
“He’s had most of these issues for the better part of eight years, but they are really more noticeable in the last few years since my mother died because she was the sole initiator for everything in the relationship. My father is very flexible for any situation. He waits for whoever he’s with to say, ‘Hey, let’s do this or let’s do that,’ and he’s happy as a clam.”
Murray Howe noted that his father’s progression of any memory loss is extremely slow.
“One of our biggest concerns is that the memory loss is going to get worse where he’s not able to be himself,” he said.
“It seems to be a relatively stable process.”
The Hockey Hall of Famer, born in Floral, Sask., had a playing career that stretched over five decades from his rookie year with Detroit in 194647 to his first retirement from the team in 1971. Then came his jump to the upstart WHA from 1973-74 until his second retirement in 1980. He made his final appearance in a single game with the International Hockey League Detroit Vipers in 1997-98.