MONTREAL – Anne Turnbull, a 2004 inductee to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame, has died. She was 88.

A star athlete, coach and university sports administrator over a lifelong career at both McGill and Queen's, she passed away on Nov. 12 after a short illness.

Born Anne Collier Turnbull on May 31, 1933 in St. John, N.B., Turnbull attended vocational and high school in her hometown. She entered McGill in 1952 and graduated in 1955 with a degree in physical education. A four-sport athlete at McGill, she served as captain of the basketball, soccer, archery and sailing teams. Turnbull was also active in swimming and badminton and found time to serve as a student manager of both, the soccer and basketball teams. In 1955, her senior year, she received the Muriel Roscoe Award, presented to a graduating female athlete for proficiency and leadership in athletics.

Turnbull established a McGill women's basketball non-conference record with 44 points in an inter-city game, won the 1955 Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) scoring title in archery and also received intramural champion letters in six sports, including swimming, rifle shooting and badminton.

She served on the McGill Women's Sports Athletics Association for three years. After graduating, Turnbull taught for a year at Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute before moving on to Queen's school of physical education and athletics in 1956. She enjoyed a distinguished 37-year coaching and administrative career, expanding sports opportunities for women at the University before retiring in 1993.

Turnbull was also involved in writing the Canadian rules for women's basketball in the 1950s, and in 1973 authored Basketball for Women. She was the chief volleyball official for the WIAU, and in 1965, she became the first woman in Canada to receive national coaching certification in cross-country skiing.

In 1991, Turnbull was a co-recipient of the OUA's Honour Award, presented to an administrator for contribution to university sport in addition to reflecting outstanding ethics, integrity and honesty. She was also inducted to the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame and elected to the Queen's Coaching Hall of Fame in 2003. According to her plaque there, she coached teams at Queen's that won 11 conference championships in four different sports.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman, McGill Sports Info Office
and
Ian MacAlpine, Kingston Whig Standard