Shop our complete inventory of rinks, components & accessories
Walter Gretzky is the father of Wayne Gretzky.
Walter was born in Canning, Ontario, Canada on October 8, 1938, the son of Polish immigrants.
Walter's father was from an area of former Russia, now part of Belarus. His mother was from Ukraine.
For the majority of his youth Walter played ice hockey, including 5 years of Junior B hockey with Woodstock.
Walter Gretzky passed on to all his sons his passion and love for the game of ice hockey and was certainly responsible for helping Wayne Gretzky develop into an NHL legend.
Early on, Walter spent a lot of time watching his young son Wayne Gretzky skate at outdoor ice rinks, so he decided to make his own backyard ice skating rink, which later was dubbed the "Wally Coliseum."
Walter worked an installer and repairman for Bell Canada for 34 years and retired in 1991. In his later years, he suffered a brain aneurysm which resulted in memory loss.
Please subscribe to my online rink magazine, mybackyardicerink.
Keep up to date with the latest information on My Backyard Ice Rink!