Bernie Sparkes

Bernie Sparkes
Curler
Born (1940-10-15) October 15, 1940 (age 84)
Claresholm, Alberta
Curling career
Brier appearances12 (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1987)
World Championship
appearances		3 (1966, 1968, 1969)
Medal record
Men's curling
Representing  Canada
World Curling Championships
Gold medal – first place 1966 Vancouver
Gold medal – first place 1968 Pointe Claire
Gold medal – first place 1969 Perth
Macdonald Brier
Representing  Alberta
Gold medal – first place 1966 Halifax
Gold medal – first place 1968 Kelowna
Gold medal – first place 1969 Oshawa
Representing  British Columbia
Silver medal – second place 1978 Vancouver
Bronze medal – third place 1976 Regina

Bernard Leslie Sparkes[1] (born October 15, 1940) is a former world champion curler.

Sparkes's first major curling championship success came when he won the 1957 Alberta Schoolboys.[2] He would later go on to win 4 Alberta (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969) championships and 3 Canadian Brier and World Championships (1966, 1968, 1969)[2] He was voted all star second at 4 consecutive Briers as the second for the Ron Northcott team. He is a member of the Lethbridge Sports Hall Of Fame (baseball), the Southern Alberta Curling Hall Of Fame,[3] the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame (1974)[4] and the WCF Hall of Fame (2021).[5] Sparkes moved to British Columbia in 1970 and went on to win 9 more men's provincial curling championships 1 Masters over 70 in 2014 and 1 mixed championship. He was elected to the B.C. Sports Hall Of Fame in 1995.[2] He was elected to the World Curling Hall of Fame in 2021.

One of his leisurely pursuits is painting. He paints still life and animal paintings. One of his most famous paintings is a chair in a lawn, surrounded by bouquets and flowers.[6]

At the time of the 1967 Brier, he was a stationary salesman. He was an avid baseball player in his youth, and was a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers organization.[7]

  1. ^ "Larry Wood". Calgary Herald. March 9, 1968. p. 18. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c BC HOF.Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  3. ^ Southern Alberta HOF Archived July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  4. ^ "Sparkes, Bernie — CCA Hall of Fame — ACC Temple de la Renommée Virtuelle". Archived from the original on 2022-04-10. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  5. ^ "World Curling inducts 2021 Hall of Fame recipients". World Curling Federation. 2021-06-01. Archived from the original on 2022-03-27. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  6. ^ Curling Prints.Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  7. ^ "Are We Satisfied?". Edmonton Journal. March 12, 1966. p. 43. Retrieved March 5, 2022.