Lake Superior State will honor the memory of two special Lakers during Saturday’s game against Alaska-Anchorage.
Saturday is Gary McClellan/Gil Somes Night, and the families of both men will be honored guests when LSSU and UAA face off at Taffy Abel Arena.
McClellan, who died unexpectedly June 28, 2015, at the age of 74, was a well-known businessman statewide, a charter member of the LSSU Foundation Board of Directors and one of the founders of the Laker Club in the 1970s and Soo BlueLiners in the 1980s. McLellan received the Donald and Catherine Finlayson Distinguished Citizen Award during LSSU’s homecoming in 2000.
Somes was the LSSU athletics equipment manager from 1981 to 1995 and remained involved in Laker athletics for nearly two more decades. The Gil Somes Endowment Award benefits a LSSU hockey student equipment manager or athletic trainer. Somes died Jan. 19, 2015, after a lengthy illness at the age of 85.
The Lakers, LSSU Alumni Association, Soo BlueLiners and LSSU staff, along with the McClellan and Somes families, will take part in a pre-game social beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Lukenda Alumni House, a ceremonial puck drop and post-game reception at the Christopher Columbus Hall.
“Gary and Gil were special people, and very much loved,” noted LSSU director of athletics Kris Dunbar in a statement. “We could never thoroughly repay them for their contributions to Laker Athletics, especially the hockey program. They helped make LSSU the special place that it is. We want to make sure their families know that Gary and Gil will always be remembered.”
