Warning: this story contains discussion of suicide.
At a dinner on Saturday night, members of the Sunset Country Squash Club honoured two former members who played squash in Fort Frances.

This past weekend marked the 37th annual La Place Rendez-Vous Squash Tournament for the club, and as a part of their regular banquet dinner, longtime members of the club spoke to the legacy of Joey Angus and Steven Krag. Angus and Krag were both members of the club over the years who died in 2024 following struggles with mental health illnesses.
Taking to the stage set up at La Place Rendez-Vous for the banquet, club member Shawn Brady reflected on Angus, who had only started playing squash with the club within the past few years, but who Brady said took to the sport quickly.
“He started off playing tennis, and then made the smart choice to move over to the better sport of squash,” Brady said.
“Because of his natural athletic abilities, Joy started to thrive in squash. He was he was out multiple times a day of playing, whether it be hitting down the line by himself or finding a random gym guy to hit with. For those of you, by the way, who don’t believe what I’m saying, who think I’m just saying it generally to be like, ‘he played a lot.’ No. He played before work, on his lunch break, and then after work. He played three times a day minimum. Then he would go into the gym and work out, all while scoping out his next opponent.”
Brady said part of what Angus such a good player was his commitment to bettering himself, often approaching opponents following a game to ask in what areas they thought he could improve himself.
“Never did he ask what he was doing wrong,” Brady said.
“Every opponent, every challenge, every match that he went up against was never just another game. Everyone that played against him would agree that he played his hardest to win. He never gave up. He would run down that ball as hard as he could. He would make sure that he fought for the tee, even if it meant getting in the way… His determination to always get better and to never give up was something that I always admired.”

Longtime fixtures of the Fort Frances squash scene Bob and Mary Beth Tkachuk spoke to Krag’s time with the club. Bob noted that Krag had been one of the first batch of junior squash players that he and his wife had taught, and from there Krag had gone on the play tournaments in Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Sault Ste. Marie, Minneapolis and more. Bob reflected that he and many other players who played around the same time as Krag remembered him “as a fun-loving, dedicated player.”
“Steve’s dad would drop him off the courts before school to hit the ball by himself,” Tkachuk reflected.
“He was very hard working and competitive, just like Joey. I spent countless hours hitting the ball with Steve, as he was a squash sponge, and I had lots of energy then… His prized accomplishment was being the first Sunset Country Squash player to play University squash for the Waterloo Warriors, later followed by Steve Boileau.”
Mary Beth read from a letter that Krag’s parents had sent along to the dinner, where they remembered their son as someone who truly loved the game he had spent years playing.
“He was first introduced to the game of squash when he was a baby,” Mary Beth read.
“The early outings at the rec centre must have sparked an interest, because as a young boy, he got his dad to take him out to show him how to play the game. Jim [Krag] says he showed him the game, but Bob and MB [Tkachuk] taught him. As his skills improved over the years, his dad inspired him with an incentive. He wrote him a check for $100. The note at the bottom of the check said ‘squash lessons.’ He was allowed to cash it only when he could beat his dad for the first time. It was a large sum of money to a young boy. That date eventually came years later, but the check was never cashed. Steve chose to keep it as a memento, and he kept it his entire life.”
In recognizing and honouring both former players, Brady and the Tkachuks revealed two installations being planned for the squash courts at the Fort Frances Memorial Sports Centre. The first will be one of Angus’ squash racquets that has been framed and will be mounted on the wall at the courts. The other will be a memorial plaque that Bob Tkachuk said will honour and remember all the past members of the Sunset Country Squash Club, including the original club builders, along with Angus and Krag.
If you or a loved one are struggling with your mental health or thoughts of suicide, call the Suicide Crisis Helpline at 9-8-8, Talk Suicide Canada at 1-833-456-4566 (or text 45645 between 4:00 p.m. and midnight ET), Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 (or text CONNECT to 686868). If you or someone you know is in immediate danger please call 9-1-1.