By Bill Powers
Special to Stampeders.com
To list the accomplishments of one A. G. (Tony) Anselmo, one would need to write a mini-book to be brutally honest. Maybe even a full-length novel.
When the former Calgary Stampeder president was born in Michel, B.C., in 1918, no one could have ever imagined the paths he would take over the next 90-plus years.
Take work, as an example. Tony joined Canada Safeway as a clerk in 1938 only to have that early-career possibility interrupted by World War II when he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force where he was a wireless operator and gunner that flew no fewer than 41 bomber missions while serving in Italy and the Middle East reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
After being discharged in 1945, he returned to Safeway ranks and by 1947 was managing his own store. That was Step 1 in an amazing rise through the ranks that would seen him hold several management positions until 1971 when he became the president of the whole company. But before he retired in 1983, he would also be the company’s Managing Director of Canadian Operations, the Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of the board and finally a Director of Safeway Stores, Inc. To say Tony touched all the Safeway bases would be an understatement.
But then we look at the passionate part of his community life. And that was the sport of football. He, for years, was the front-office face of the Calgary Stampeders, spending many years on the board of directors of the then community-owned football team becoming the president in 1973.
You could say that while the McMahon brothers were responsible for the building of McMahon Stadium, the expansion process was Tony Anselmo’s baby. He became a director of the McMahon Stadium Society in 1973 and was the volunteer group’s president for 20 years. Under his direction, the facility was converted into the amateur-professional building it is today, accommodating more than 500 sports events each year.
His dedication of time, leadership and fund raising campaigns totalled more than $32 million to develop one of the finest football stadiums in the nation.
But what I remember best was his contribution to a failing football club in the mid-80s when he was an integral part of the “Save Our Stamps” campaign, taking the problem to City Council and gaining much-needed funding for the team but always emphasizing that amateur sports would also benefit in the long run. I would not be going out on limb in any way in saying that Calgary’s Stampeders are alive today thanks to the work of many but mostly Tony Anselmo.
And as much as the Anselmo name is connected to the Stampeders, some might be interested in knowing that in the early days of the BC Lions in 1954-1963, he participated in promotions and fundraising for that club before doing the same with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1963 and ’64.
The awards have been many for Tony, who passed away last year, but a few that stick out for his family and friends were his induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, his name being on the Stampeders Wall of Fame and his spot in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.
They were just a few of the many honours this man would receive over the years, another being the Order of Canada not to mention an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Calgary and being named Chief Calf Child by the Blood Band.
Tony lived to be 91 but his contributions to this community and this country go much beyond 91 years. He put more into each and every day and year that anyone I’ve met in the 50 years I’ve been in the game.