The man described as Peterborough's Athlete of the Century is being remembered as a dedicated sportsman and hockey hero to a generation of local youth.

George (Red) Sullivan died Saturday night at age 89.

Mr. Sullivan lived with Alzheimer's in recent years and died surrounded by family at St. Joseph's at Fleming where he's resided for three years.

"When he passed it was a relief to see he was not suffering," said Marion Sullivan, his wife of 67 years. "He died very peacefully."

Red and Marion have four children - Dan, Jane, Suzanne and Kate - 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Marion and Red lived in Indian River since 1991 but East City was always home. He was baptized and married at Immaculate Conception Church, where his funeral will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. A celebration of life will follow at the Peterborough Lions Community Centre on Burnham St. in East City. There will be no visitation.

While he was looked up to by many for his NHL exploits, Marion said it was hard work for Red.

"It was a job," she said. "There were six teams and Red worried about it all the time. In those days there were two-way contracts and if you didn't produce you were sent down."

One of his best friends was Jim McMahon, a longtime scouting colleague. Marion said she got a call that Mr. McMahon died on Friday night. Mr. Sullivan died 24 hours later.

Mr. Sullivan became the first Peterborough-born-and-raised hockey player in the National Hockey League during the Original Six era when he joined the Boston Bruins for the 1949-50 season. He went on to play 556 NHL games over 12 seasons with Boston, the Chicago Blackhawks, who he led in scoring for two consecutive years, and New York Rangers.

Mr. Sullivan also coached the Rangers, the expansion Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, and scouted for many years for Boston, the Philadelphia Flyers and NHL Central Scouting.

He was an outstanding softball player in the Peterborough Men's Softball Association. He is a member of the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame and last month was inducted into the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears Hall of Fame.

Local sports historian Don Barrie says Mr. Sullivan was an idol to aspiring young local athletes.

"He was the first NHLer we identified with," said Barrie. "Dit Clapper got there before Red but he grew up in Hastings and wasn't really identified with Peterborough until he retired and moved here. Red Sullivan was our first. He went away and played junior in St. Catharines before Peterborough had a team and everybody followed him."

Barrie recalls seeing Mr. Sullivan on a snowy TV in the black-and-white era when not many people owned televisions.

"He always came back to town and played ball here in the summers. He was one of the few guys who could hit Ray Judd. I remember watching Red hit a couple of home runs into the Lion's swimming pool. He always had time for us kids. He was an idol but he was available to us."

Mr. Sullivan nearly lost his life in an NHL game when he was speared by Montreal Canadiens legend Doug Harvey and lost his spleen. A Catholic priest was even called to administer his last rites. Mr. Sullivan recovered and resumed his career which ended in 1961.

"I never liked Harvey ever since," said Barrie. "He went after our Red Sullivan."

Mr. Sullivan was not a big man at five-foot-11, 160 pounds in his prime, but he was a fierce competitor and skilled player.

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The City of Peterborough renamed East City Bowl in his honour in 2013.

Former Mayor Jack (Lefty) Doris spearheaded the effort to rename East City Bowl along with Mr. Sullivan's longtime friend and CHEX-TV sports director, the late Gary Dalliday, and local Hall of Famer softball star Clair Leahy. At the dedication ceremony, Doris called Mr. Sullivan Peterborough's "athlete of the century."

Another local Hall of Famer, Pat Baker, and Frank Daly were longtime friends who went to visit Mr. Sullivan regularly until his death.

"We played golf and travelled and we always had a good time," said Baker. "Red was a real gentleman and he liked to have fun. He was a good golfer and a good athlete all-around. He was a strong competitor."

Baker recalls Mr. Sullivan coming to his bantam hockey practices. Despite his success he was a humble man and proud of his roots.

"He worked with us when he was recovering from an injury," said Baker. "He was a down to earth guy."

Mr. Sullivan had a sensational junior career with St. Catharines and was the leading scorer by a wide margin when called up to Boston in 1949. This cost him the scoring title. He became an AHL star at Hershey and in 1953-54 set a scoring record of 30 goals and 89 assists for 119 points.

In the NHL, he scored 107 goals and 239 assists for 346 points. He was once voted by NHL coaches as "hardest worker and hustler" in the league.

In fastball, he played second and first base, several times leading City League batsman in hitting and home runs.