Father Ronald Cullen

Ronald Cullen

• School St. Basil's Seminary, Wayne State University
• Born October 19, 1915 in Toronto, ON Canada
• Died July 8, 2010 in Toronto, ON Canada

Biographical Information

Roman Catholic priest Father Ronald Cullen was raised in the Parkdale area of Toronto. Two of his three brothers were also priests. After attending St. Basil's Seminary, he did graduate studies in education at Wayne State University.

After graduation, he was hired to work at Windsor, Ontario's Assumption High School in 1948. He would serve his city for the next 50 years. A tough disciplinarian, he coached thousands of young football, hockey and baseball players during his career. Among those, Reno Bertoia went on to play baseball for the Detroit Tigers in the 1950s and John Upham for the Chicago Cubs in the 1960s. He also coached future stars in the NHL such as Eddie Mio, a goaltender for the Edmonton Oilers, the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings from 1977 to 1986.

In 1950, he began coaching a renowned junior league in Windsor (the Mic Mac League). He started working with midget-aged players in 1971, and among some of his graduates were future Big Leaguers Joe Siddall and Stubby Clapp.

He ran Assumption High School's alumni association until he was 89. He went blind in his last few years of life, and died peacefully in his sleep at a Toronto infirmary for Basilian priests when he was 94.

The City of Windsor has named a city-owned baseball diamond after him. The Father was named to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996 as a Builder of the sport.

External Sites and References

• Toronto Star story about his life and death
• Canadian Hall of Fame bio