Published Oct 31, 2026Last updated 13 hours ago7 minute readHugh Matheson was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 2004 as a builder. Photo by Nova Scotia Sport Hall of FameArticle content“He had a few penalty minutes, and he took on all comers, but he was one of the greatest team men you could ever have.”THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentThat observation from former NHLer Lyle Carter sums up the life of longtime friend Hugh Matheson, of Brookfield, who passed away Oct. 20 at the age of 87. Back in the day, Matheson was a big, tough defenceman in the Maritime Senior Hockey League.Article contentArticle content“He’s the guy you’d want out in front of you,” said Carter, the former Golden Seals goalie. “He’d stop the puck with his face if he had to. That’s the kind of guy he was.”Article contentArticle contentMatheson’s brother-in-law Mike Henderson delivered the eulogy at the packed funeral at Knox United Church and described him as tough and very fair.Article content“He didn’t ask you to do anything he wouldn’t do himself,” Henderson said in an interview. “He was very driven and competitive and always got the best out of his people, whether they were his players and coaching hockey or ball, or community work. But he certainly would push you too.”Article contentHenderson should know. He played both hockey and ball for Matheson.Article contentArticle contentSports Hall of FameArticle contentIn 2004, Matheson was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame as a builder, but the citation about Matheson’s involvement in sports goes well beyond a single category.Article content“Hugh Matheson’s career in coaching, facilities development, and sport leadership has benefited countless Nova Scotians,” reads his biography on the Hall of Fame website. “After a stellar senior hockey career with the Brookfield Elks in the 1950s and ’60s, Matheson turned to coaching in 1967, beginning with the Truro Bearcats of the APC and Metro Valley Junior hockey leagues.”Article contentArticle content Hugh Matheson played hockey for the Brookfield Elks in 1960-61. Photo by ContributedArticle contentHenderson gets a chuckle out of that, because up to that point Matheson was despised in Truro.Article contentArticle content“I don’t think that’s too strong a word because the Elks always had very strong teams in the district league,” Henderson said. “And I think they won 10 years out of 12 or something. And he was before his time; he should have been a pro wrestling villain because he just loved having everybody yell and boo and scream at him.”Article content Hugh Matheson, left, and Terry Henderson coached the 1980 Brookfield Elks softball team that won the national championship in Saskatchewan. Photo by ContributedArticle contentAttitudes changed in Truro. During the next eight years, Matheson led the Bearcats to success on the ice, at the box office, and in the community, the hall of fame citation reads.Article content“In the Bearcats’ first year, they captured the APC League title. The next year, the Bearcats joined the Metro Valley Junior Hockey League and advanced to the final before losing to East Hants. In 1969-70 and ’70-71, the Bearcats won the Metro Valley, Nova Scotia, and Maritime junior hockey titles. The 1973-74 Bearcats retained these three titles.”Article content“And five years later, four years later, Truro named him Citizen of the Year,” said Henderson, noting it was something that had never happened for a non-resident. “(It) went to show you how much things had changed.”Article contentArticle contentCommunity involvementArticle contentMatheson’s drive didn’t stop at sports. His devotion and work ethic were inspirational in Brookfield, and with peers like Henderson’s father Don Henderson, created a community that is respected in multiple sports across Canada.Article content“He was a tremendous man in the community,” said Carter. “We’re gonna miss him. We miss him already. He’s involved in so many things here, the sportsplex, the ball field, the athletic association, the kids coming along and, of course, the greatest seller of Elk sports draw tickets that we’ve ever had. I mean, he just … he sold tickets by the thousands.”Article content Hugh Matheson selling tickets for the Brookfield Elks Sports Draw and Hunt Contest at MacQuarries Pharmasave in Brookfield. Photo by ContributedArticle contentAnd it’s safe to say there would be no Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex without Matheson.Article content“He was instrumental in the building of the sportsplex, him and Don Henderson, who was his father-in-law,” said Carter. “And my gentlemen, those two men, the planning and what they did for that sportsplex, and it’s still operating today. I think we opened around 1975.”Article contentArticle contentArticle contentCommitted to the causeArticle contentHenderson remembers Matheson quitting his good-paying job at Lafarge to take on the sportsplex.Article content“I think he was number two in the seniority list at Lafarge and had great respect among both the union and the management there,” he recalled. “And that was a bit of a plum job around here then in the early 1970s. And so, he left that with great wages and great benefits and pension and everything else for none of the above at the sportsplex. He headed the construction crew up, and then when it was built, he managed it.”Article contentHe managed the sportsplex from 1975 until he retired in 2003. The two-ice-surface complex includes a hockey arena and a curling facility and is located beside a softball stadium. Those were tough economic times, Henderson said, citing the OPEC oil crisis, a big mortgage, and high interest rates.Article content“When the building was completed, it had a – doesn’t sound like much now – but in 1975, it had a $203,000 mortgage,” Henderson said. “And if you remember that time, that was the time when OPEC was founded in ’73 and oil went from $2 a barrel to $34 a barrel. And we were paying 20 per cent interest on the mortgage loan. So yeah, it was continual fundraising just to pay the interest on the mortgage, let alone the principal. So, it was run on a shoestring for 15 years, trust me.”Article contentArticle contentThe Hall of Fame summed it up the effort this way: “But through determination, creativity, fundraising and the introduction of the annual Brookfield Lotta Truck (Freightliner) draw, the Sportsplex today rates with the top recreational facilities in the province.”Article contentArticle contentGreat managerArticle contentCarter said Matheson was a great manager at the sportsplex.Article content“But what I always said, he could do anything, and I always described Hughie as being a bit of a genius. He could do electrical work, plumbing, he could work on the big equipment, the ice equipment. And not too many people could do that.”Article contentHenderson said it was around 1984 that Matheson went to Colchester County and demanded they get more involved because the sportsplex was purely volunteer run.Article content“There was no municipal help at all,” Henderson recalled. “We demanded they step up. And they did a little bit, but more to the point, what they did is they hired a consultant to come in and studied everything and gave us some ideas on governance and how to do some other things.”Article contentHenderson said that out of that came another fundraising project, “and two gentlemen stepped up with sizable interest-free loans that allowed us to pay off the mortgage.”Article contentHenderson said a few years later Matheson pushed the truck lottery idea. And while it was turned down by the board that first year, he came back with it the next year and said there was no choice. He proved you could sell a $100 ticket and the sportsplex turned the corner.Article contentArticle contentElected to councilArticle contentHe was later elected to municipal council and rose to deputy mayor. During that time the Colchester Arenas Association was formed as an umbrella for Debert, Tatamagouche, and Brookfield arenas, all run by volunteers, and a capital replacement program for arenas was created.Article content“That was another one of his projects,” said Henderson. “So Debert, Tatamagouche, and Brookfield rinks are all viable now because of that.”Article content“One of the most intelligent and hard-working members of council when we served together,” former Colchester County mayor Mike Smith said in a comment on Matheson’s obituary site. “He got things done but was a loyal team player.”Article contentArticle contentAsked what Brookfield was going to do now, without Hugh Matheson, Henderson said Matheson already talked about a path forward.Article content“He put a challenge out to everybody in March at the 50th anniversary of the sportsplex,” Henderson said. “He said, you know, people just have to step up more.”Article content Hugh Matheson addresses those in attendance during a ceremony in March to mark the 50th anniversary of the Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex in Brookfield. Matheson was singled out during the ceremony for his vision, hard work, determination, and foresight in helping the sportsplex dream come alive and for it remaining a vital and beloved facility in the community. Photo by Richard MacKenzie /Truro NewsArticle contentHenderson said there are plenty of great volunteers in Brookfield, but leadership and planning roles have to be filled, jobs that are boring but essential.Article content“So, he sort of put that out there to people at that time,” Henderson said.Article contentMatheson still wasn’t done. He sold Elks tickets until shortly before his death. In his obituary, donations could be made to the sportsplex, the Knox United Church in Brookfield, the Terry Fox Run, “… or purchase a Sports Draw ticket in his honour.”Article contentAt his funeral, Matheson’s daughter Kim Dawe spoke of her father.Article content“Grief isn’t just pain; it’s proof that something beautiful existed; that we were given something worth missing,” she said. “Dad often expressed his gratitude for a beautiful life, considering himself the luckiest man in the world. He had no regrets. How many people can say that?”Article contentArticle content Hugh and Judy Matheson have been pillars of the community in Brookfield. Photo by ContributedArticle contentHugh and his wife Judy raised five children: Chris Bernard (Doug), Kim Dawe (Joel), Leah Bowers (Charles), Jodie Matheson (Rick Hill), and Nick Matheson (Lori). They have 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.Article contentArticle content‘Let’s get to work’Article contentThe following is from Hugh Matheson’s obituary.Article content“Hugh was determined, independent, and unmistakably himself,” it read. “He lived according to his own sense of how things ought to be done and when there was something that needed doing, Hug’s answer was always the same: ‘Let’s get to work.’”Article contentArticle contentDid you know?Article contentFacts about Hugh Matheson.Article content• Defenceman with Brookfield Elks N.S. Int. & Rural Hockey. • Was a first baseman and clutch hitter in softball. • Coached the Elks to three Nova Scotia intermediate A titles from 1965 to 1969. • Coached the Truro junior Bearcats. • Coached teams to five league titles, four provincial, and three Maritime championships. • Was an assistant coach on the Elks 1980 Canadian senior men’s softball championship team. • Developed the Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex and was the general manager there from 1975 to 2003.Article contentSource – Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame.Article content
Hugh Matheson: A lifetime of getting things done
