Richard Dowson shares the history of Elmer Lach, Elon Musk’s Great Uncle
Elmer James Lach was born in Nokomis, Saskatchewan January 22, 1918. He died in the Montreal area April 4, 2015.
He was the baby of the family, the youngest of William and Mary-Ann Lach’s seven kids and learned his hockey skills on the frozen pond at Nokmois.
Elmer married Kay in 1941 and the Lach’s first and only child, Ron, was born in 1945.
Elmer played his entire career, 14 seasons with Montreal. He was on a line with Toe Blake and Maurice the Rocket Richard and they tore up the league.
Elmer won the league scoring title twice and in 1945 he won the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player. He retired from hockey in 1954.
His Number 16 Jersey was retired by the team and hangs from the rafters of the Bell Centre in Montreal.
After retirement he was employed by a trucking company. His passion in retirement was golf.
Elmer Lach was estranged from his father. His Dad did not see playing hockey as a worthwhile way of living one’s life. He was close to his mother but, because of his disagreements with his Dad, he never visited back home until his mom was sick and dying in 1941. He and his Dad never established a relationship.
Hockey – The Early Years
In Regina, Lach played Junior and Senior hockey. In 1938, he relocated to Moose Jaw and joined the Moose Jaw Millers, who were controlled by Cliff Henderson, who also ran an insurance agency.
Senior hockey was semi-professional back then. From 1937 to 1942, there were only six NHL clubs, and many excellent players competed in Senior Hockey.
Senior Hockey was on par with, if not slightly better than, today’s AHL.
Playing semi-pro hockey didn’t pay well, but you got paid to play a sport you like and became a local star. Elmer was paid $75 each month during the hockey season. During the summer, he’d catch for the local baseball team for $2.50 per game.
Elmer didn’t see himself as having a future in hockey. He considered it a good sideline, but he preferred his other work, Reading Metres for National Light and Power. When he wasn’t reading metres, he was shovelling coal or oiling machines at the power plant. In the spring of 1940, he was living at 1139 – 1st Ave. NW.
Senior hockey players were frequently paid and required to work another profession. Elmer’s best friend and line-mate on the Moose Jaw Millers, Norman Larson, also worked at National Light and Power.
There were some interesting side benefits to meter reading. The Power Meters were inside the house. Reading meters meant meeting people – and girls.
During the 1939-40 season, Elmer was playing hockey and reading meters. He stopped at a house near the Technical High School (Peacock) to read the meter and met the beautiful and charming love of his life, Kay (Kathleen) Fletcher. Kay was working at the Swift Meats plant.
Kay was smitten. To show her affection for the bruising Moose Jaw Miller hockey star and make his job easier, Kay loan him her bicycle to get around on his meter reading route.
Cliff Henderson, team owner was one of Elmer’s biggest fans. In 1940 Cliff organized a tryout for Elmer in Montreal with the Canadiens.
Elmer never thought in a million years he’d make the Canadiens Hockey Team. In fact, he so convinced he wouldn’t make the team that he only packed a small ‘carry-on’ bag for the train trip to Montreal. He made the team and had to send back to Moose Jaw for the rest of his clothes.
Elmer’s rights were purchased for $100.00 by Montreal scout and player Paul Haynes. Elmer had never seen so much money in one place before.
For the 1940-41 season, Montreal had a large number of rookies. Elmer was one of nine players.
Elmer returned to Moose Jaw at the close of the 1941 season and married Kay on Saturday, May 24, 1941. The wedding was held in front of the fireplace in her parents’ home, where she grew up. They drove to Vancouver for their honeymoon.
Kay’s older sister, Miss Winnifred Fletcher, presided at the piano. The pianist received a gold compact as a gift from the Groom. Elon Musk’s grandmother was Miss Winnifred “Wyn” Fletcher.
Elmer’s Best Man
Elmer’s best buddy and line-mate on the Moose Jaw Millers, Norman Larson, was the best man at Elmer’s wedding. Norm was born and raised in Moose Jaw and was the son of Lyle Larson, a Locomotive Engineer with the CPR. Norm lived with his family at 1151 – 2nd Avenue N.E.
Norm played for the New York Americans (Brooklyn Americans) and then went into the RCAF from 1942 to 1945. After the war he played Pro-Hockey at various levels, retiring in 1956.
Retirement
Kay and Elmer had one child, Ron, in 1945. Ron accepted the position of General Manager at the Beaconsfield Golf and Country Club in Montreal.
Elmer hung up his skates in 1954. Kay, his 44-year-old wife from Moose Jaw, died of cancer in 1985. A few years later, he remarried.
Elon’s Grandmother
Elmer was Mr. Elon Musk’s Great Uncle through his first wife Kathleen (Kay). Wyn, Kay’s older sister, was Elon’s grandmother.
Is there more to Elon Musk’s grandmother’s story? Without a doubt!
Another wedding was celebrated in front of the fireplace at the residence near Peacock High School in June 1942. Kay’s older sister Wyn (Winnifred) married Regina Chiropractor Dr. Joshua Norman Haldeman, D.C. this time. And another amazing narrative unfolds, including a look at Elon’s most fascinating Great-Grandmother, the first female chiropractor in Canada who also obtained a teaching certificate from the Moose Jaw Normal School.
So there is more, but it will all be revealed in due course.
Team Roster
Front Row L to R – Burr Keenan, Dunc Grant, Tommy Cooper, Dempster “Babe” Hemming, Paul Lavelle, Buster “Bus” Brayshaw, Curly Lynem (trainer).
Back Row – Hal “Porky” Cathcart, Lou Labovitch, Bob Kennedy, Clay Boiteau, Art Somers (coach), Elmer Lach, Norm Larson, Frank Warshawski, Johnny Jones.
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