Lawrence "Bill"
LeNeve
(1916 - 2007)
Lawrence "Bill"
LeNeve participated
in numerous team and
individual sports in
Sarnia during the
1930's and 1940's.
A gifted athlete, he
set records and won
championships in
track and field,
baseball, rugby and
hockey.
In 1932, Bill set
the Sarnia
Collegiate Institute
and Technical
School's
intermediate high
jump record of five
feet, three inches.
In football, he was
a halfback with the
Sarnia Crescents,
who won the 1935
Junior City Rugby
League Championship
with an undefeated
record of 10 - 0.
In hockey, Bill
organized, coached
and played for the
Bearcats, a team
that pulled off one
of the most
remarkable upsets in
the history of
Sarnia sports during
the 1936-1937 Junior
City Hockey League
Championship series;
facing the
heavily-favored
Silverwood Dairies'
team that had gone
undefeated during
the season, the
Bearcats won the
title in a stunning
three-game sweep.
In the sport of
baseball, Bill was a
pitcher and
outfielder with a
number of teams in
the Junior Ontario
Baseball Association
and the
Michigan-Ontario
League. In
Sarnia, Bill played
for the Juniors, a
team that captured a
City League title in
a grueling five-game
series against the
London Road Tigers
After his playing
days ended, Bill
became a coach for
a teen league in
Kitchener in the
late 1940's.
In 1949, Bill and
his family left
Ontario and moved to
Michigan, where Bill
became an avid
fisherman and golfer
and continued
collecting
accolades.
When a fishing trip
with photographer
Joe LePage resulted
in Bill catching one
of the largest
Muskies ever
recorded in Lake St.
Clair, Bill was
featured on Michigan
Outdoors, the
long-running
television program
hosted by Mort Neff.
As a golfer, Bill's
achievements
included winning the
scoring title in a
1966 league
sponsored by the
Chrysler
Corporation.
He continued to play
the latter sport
well into his 80's.