George S. Lyon
Plot 20, Section 27, Lot 10
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Described as Canada’s “grand old man of golf,” Lyon was born in Richmond, Carleton County on July 27, 1858. As a young man he entered the life insurance business, a field in which he continued until retiring at the age of 74. Lyon was extremely proficient in a wide variety of sports that included baseball, track and field, curling, soccer, swimming, cricket, and tennis. A sport he had never attempted was golf. Then, at the “ancient” age of 37 he was persuaded to play his first round. He loved it. The method and techniques came to him easily and before long Lyon had mastered this game as well. In 1900 golf became a competitive sport at that year’s Summer Olympic Games. Four years later the Games were held in St. Louis, Missouri. George S. Lyon entered (1904 was the first year that Canada had ever participated in the Summer Olympics) and defeated 87 other players to win the gold medal. So upset were the British and American participants that they hadn’t won the gold, they refused to participate in future games. As a result, 1904 was the last year that golf was to be part of the Summer Olympic Games.
In 1930, at the age of 71, Lyon won both the Canadian and American senior golf titles. He won the former title a total of eight times. His home course was the Lambton Club in west Toronto and he was a life-member of 26 others. George S. Lyon died at the age of 79 at his 61 Garfield Avenue home on May 11, 1938.
Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded