Skeet shooter, builder dies at 84
Ron Atkinson, who devoted many years of his life to sport of skeet shooting, as a competitor and builder, died on Sunday at the Palliative Care Centre in Charlottetown.
The Charlottetown native was 84.
Visiting hours at the MacLean Funeral Home Swan Chapel are today from 6-9 p.m. Funeral service will be held on Thursday at the First Baptist Church at 10 a.m.
Atkinson was a standout in the Maritimes in the 1950s, winning the P.E.I. Provincial Skeet Championship 10 times, the Maritime title seven times and the Canadian AAA class title twice.
He recorded three of four perfect scores recorded in the Maritimes during the decades. One of those perfect scores came during a Canadian skeet event when Atkinson went head-to-head with Bill Rodgers, a former world champion. Rodgers broke 99 of 100 targets but Atkinson bested him with a perfect score of 100 to win the event. Atkinson went on to hold several provincial, regional and national administrative positions in skeet shooting and was an organizing member of the Canadian championships beginning in 1992.
He also created a Club Average Handicap System, which is used by many Canadian and American skeet clubs used for league and fun completion.
Atkinson published a monthly bulletin for the Charlottetown Trap and Skeet Club in the 1970s called Targetdust, which became a national publication for the sport. In 1984 his book “PULL” was published. It covered the 100-year history of clay target shooting on P.E.I.
Atkinson was inducted into the Canadian Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame in 2000 in the builder category. The Canadian Hall of Fame also honoured him with the Ron H. Atkinson Award, which is presented to the builder inductee of the year.
He was inducted into the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.