Trailblazing hockey player Mel Wakabayashi remembered as 'someone to look up to'

Mel Wakabayashi, a Chatham Sports Hall of Famer who played hockey for the Michigan Wolverines, passed away earlier this month at 80.

He's being remembered for his contributions on the ice — and for being a player that brought diversity to hockey at a time when it was rare.

Dwight Wakabayashi is Mel's great nephew and a sports writer from Chatham. He joined Windsor Morning host Nav Nanwa to reflect on Mel's legacy.

Dwight, first and foremost, condolences to you and your family. If you can describe your great uncle with one word, what would that be and why?

Well, you you took it, it's "great," probably. The other one would probably be "accomplished." Mel has always been associated with all the great things that he's done. Not just, not just sports wise, but just in the business world and you know, the way he's carried himself through his life and you know, he was the president of the Prince hotels and he was also vice president of hockey in Japan and for the federation there.

So he's just always kind of been known as great Uncle Mel or just by the great things that he does, tries to do. And then, you know, he was already quite accomplished when I came along. So he's just always been known as someone who just, you know, he's always striving. Yeah, someone to look up to for sure.

Tell me a bit about Mel and his upbringing and how he ended up in Chatham.

He was actually born in one of the [Japanese internment] camps in B.C. and it was Slocan city. And he wasn't even a year old before they moved. They actually gave a choice for some of the people that were interned, if they wanted to go to Ontario, and so they picked to go Neys, Ontario, a camp near Thunder Bay.

[It] ended up being eight of them, but it was only a few of