At 72, Gary McLellan plans to continue coaching boxing for as long as he can.
McLellan runs the Williams Lake Boxing Club where he leads training sessions two nights a week.
“It's good for self-esteem,” he said of why he loves the sport. “It never hurts to know how to defend yourself, even if you don't compete.”
Through the years there have been some B.C. and Alberta Golden Glove winners from the club and two professional Canadian champions, something he is very proud of.
Originally from a small town along the coast of Nova Scotia, McLellan headed west in 1970 seeking “fame and fortune,” with a friend.
After a short stop in Thompson, MB, which they decided was too cold, they
aimed for Vancouver with a detour to Williams Lake.
In the lakecity they immediately found jobs at the Lignum sawmill.
McLellan stayed for six months before returning to work in Thompson, then back East and eventually Toronto, before making Williams Lake his permanent home.
He and his wife Victoria (Tresierra), originally from Williams Lake, were married in 1985.
“We got married in Las Vegas,” he recalled. “We went down to watch a boxing match between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns. I bet my money on Marvin Hagler, and won some money so we took the money and got married.”
They chose to exchange their vows in the Little Chapel of the West, the church that appears in the 1964 film Viva Las
Vegas where characters played by Elvis Presley and Ann-Margaret make their vows.
McLellan spent 45 years working at a sawmill in Williams Lake, retiring three years ago in September 2021.
The mill was called Pinette and Therrien when he started and Tolko when he retired.
On one of his trips back to Nova Scotia he joined a boxing club in Halifax for six months, but never did anything after that for 25 years.
He and Victoria have four sons - Roberto, Stuart, Arthur and Duncan.
They are the reason McLellan got into coaching boxing in Williams Lake.
“Roberto, our oldest, wanted to join boxing here.”
McLellan took Roberto to the Williams Lake Boxing Club, run by Lance Grey and Rick Albrechtsen at the time.
That first night he watched Roberto and the next night Stuart wanted to join to so he brought him down as well.
“As I was sitting there watching, I thought that I might as well get back into it.”
After a few years of training alongside his sons, he became a coach.
“Rick and Lance they both left the club so I was the coach after that.”
Eventually Arthur and Duncan joined the club and not wanting to be left out, Victoria became a judge of matches for many years.
“It is funny because at first she didn't even want to watch and see the boys getting hit,” he said, chuckling. “She probably judged over 200 fights.”
Over the years, the club has had several homes, including the gymnastics club, the mall and McLellan's garage with sparring at Glendale School, before settling
into where it is now in the basement of Western Wood and Heat on Highway 97, a location he credited Albrechtsen for securing for the club.
Throughout his time as coach, he has had help from more experienced boxers, such as his sons and some of the other boxes.
Presently there are about a dozen people in the club, but no females at this time.
Gym dues cover the rent as well as help from people such as a local business owner whose daughter attended.
“He wanted to help us out and paid our fees for about a year,” McLellan said.
The teaching and coaching aspect of the sport keeps him eager to be involved, he said.
“I still enjoy the sparring, although I haven't been able to spar for about three months because I am waiting to get an operation on my shoulder. I tore my rotator cuff.”
