The former teacher at the centre of a decade-long fraud that siphoned almost $800,000 from London-area high school sports programs has died.

Wes McConnell died Thursday at St. Joseph’s Hospice in London. He was 63.

The disgraced former head of the Thames Valley Regional Athletic Association (TVRAA) — the governing body for high school sports in London, Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin counties — was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to repay $771,493.63 after pleading guilty to one count of fraud valued at more than $5,000 in October 2010.

McConnell is survived by his wife of 37 years Liz, five children and several grandchildren.

After he was released from prison, McConnell and his wife started volunteering at the Mission Thrift Store in London, a fund­raising arm of Bible League Canada. He also had a paid part-time position driving a truck with the organization, manager Linda Richardson said.

“They’ve been here, supportive since Day 1. They’ve been here since the inception of the store,” she said, adding his past didn’t tarnish her estimation of McConnell.

“His life just got turned all around. He was just an amazing guy.”

He had been battling cancer but continued to volunteer with the not-for-profit through his illness, Richardson said.

Mission Thrift Store board chairperson Mike Talsma said McConnell was a genuine and generous person with strong religious convictions. He was open about his crime, not just with his close friends, but with acquaintances too.

He even shared his story at a banquet for the store’s 120 volunteers last May.

“He came clean. He shared his past with everybody in the room,” said Talsma.

“He was totally repentant about what he did.”

The two would make deliveries and pick-ups together and when McConnell ran into people from his past, Talsma said he’d own up to his actions and ask forgiveness.

“He paid his dues, he served his time,” he said. “He was a loving, compassionate guy . . . I’m going to miss him terribly.”

McConnell admitted the misappropriated funds paid for lavish improvements to his former Westmount home. The big ticket spends involved more than $100,000 for backyard upgrades including a salt water pool, hot tub and waterfall.

The former TVRAA head also admitted to a compulsive gambling addiction and spent as much as $400 a day on lottery tickets.

McConnell opened a bank account for the TVRAA, listed himself as the signing officer and made personal purchases with the ill-gotten funds.

Between January 2000 and September 2009, $835,391.05 of public funds were deposited into the account.

In 2013, the Ontario College of Teachers revoked McConnell’s teaching certificate after finding him guilty of professional misconduct.

In that same year, McConnell had paid back at least $186,300 and the Thames Valley District school board, his former employer, had also received $500,000 from insurance to cover the fraud.

A Thames Valley spokesperson said Tuesday they have no comment on the amount of money they’d received from McConnell since and extended their condolences to his family.

jbieman@postmedia.com

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