Hilliard Lyle

Although born in Ontario, Hilliard Lyle spent much of his early life based out of Winnipeg where he worked as a commercial traveler. He was also active in local lacrosse circles during the early 1900s but was not a member of the Shamrock Lacrosse Club when it won the 1903 Manitoba Provincial Championship. Nonetheless he accompanied them to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair where the squad won Olympic gold by besting the St. Louis Amateur Athletic Association with a score of 8-2. When World War I broke out, Lyle signed up with a Winnipeg battalion and fought overseas in France, eventually attaining the rank of Colonel. Following the conflict he spent time in Eastern and Western Canada, eventually setting up a general store in Beaver Lodge, Alberta. On the evening of May 21, 1931, he killed his wife of two years following a series of domestic problems and then turned the gun on himself in the basement of his house. He was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, along with the rest of his gold medal-winning team, in 2004.