Gerry Wiedel

Gerry Wiedel was born in Germany and was active in sports from a young age. Coming to Canada in the 1950s, he joined the Harmonie Fencing Club in Toronto where he would eventually meet his wife, Pacita Dumenieux.

Gerry Wiedel went on to enjoy a highly successful fencing career, winning three Canadian national titles in foil (1965, 1969–70) and one in épee in 1965. His international career included competing at two Olympic Games at Ciudad de México (Mexico City) in 1968 and München (Munich) in 1972 where he competed in the foil and epee events (team and individual). He also won a bronze medal in the team foil event at the 1970 Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, and represented Canada at the Pan-American Games at Winnipeg 1967 and Cali 1971.

Wiedel also enjoyed water sports such as waterskiing, swimming, and scuba diving, and also dabbled in cross-country skiing as well as tennis. He won the Canadian Master’s National Championship (50+) in slalom for waterskiing in 1992 and also was well-known provincially in the sport. Outside of sports, Wiedel owned a successful contracting business. He and his wife later retired to the Muskoka region of Ontario, where he died in Bracebridge in November 2023 at the age of 90.