Joey Payeur
The face of Roy Peter DeBungee stayed steady and strong.
But his eyes and voice told a tale that was equal parts pride and pain.
There was the happiness for the support of those surrounding him on an autumn afternoon, yet the undeniable sadness because of the reason they felt compelled to gather together.
“He helped bring everything up around here,” said the father of Elvis DeBungee, a man who dedicated much of his life to making life better in his community.
The younger DeBungee passed away suddenly back on May 3. But his efforts to better the Rainy River First Nations area where he lived was the reason 16 teams from as far away as Kenora gathered last weekend at Thunderbird Memorial Park on Manitou Rapids and in Barwick for the inaugural Elvis DeBungee Memorial slo-pitch tournament.
If that doesn’t say enough about the impact DeBungee had in the region, consider the fact Brian Cochrane, Rainy River First Nations’ recreation co-ordinator and tourney organizer, gave up adding to his waiting list after it surpassed eight teams—one from as far away as Saskatchewan.
“We should be able to line up the two diamonds in Emo for next year’s tournament, meaning we can certainly take 32 teams,” a visibly-moved Cochrane said.
“And I’m pretty sure we’ll have that many,” he added.
“I still had teams calling me three days before the tournament seeing if they could get in.”
From organizing slo-pitch and horseshoe tournaments to being a central participant in pow-wows and spreading his love of music by playing in different bands, DeBungee was tireless in his attempt to assist the people of his home area to embrace and enjoy life as much as possible.
“Everything he did was so people could have fun,” Roy Peter said in a reflective tone.
One of DeBungee’s greatest passions was spearheading activities for young people on the reserve to try and keep them on a positive track.
“He just liked to help people, especially youth,” said DeBungee’s son, Charlie, who was in awe of the presence of so many coming to pay tribute to his father.
“It feels pretty good to see everyone come out and give their support.
“If he was here, he’d be pretty excited,” Charlie DeBungee added. “But he’d probably tell everyone not to make a big deal out of him.”
Veteran hockey ref Darrell Scott said DeBungee is the reason he now dons umpire gear in the summer to work in the local men’s and women’s fastball leagues.
“Two years ago, I walked into Subway and there was Elvis,” recalled Scott. “He said, ‘Darrell, I know you referee hockey but you would like to try umping fastball?’
“I said I didn’t know if I would be any good, but he encouraged me to come out and try it,” Scott added.
“It’s been good ever since. I owe it to him.
“He was the most beautiful man you could ever meet,” continued Scott. “He would help anyone out.
“He was such a character guy. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like him,” he noted.
“What he has done for this community is incredible.”
The tournament was enough reason for Scott to dust off his ball glove one more time.
“I’ve been retired from playing softball for two years,” he noted. “But I came out of retirement just to play in this tournament.
“This will probably be the only one I play in every year.”
