Hi League,

It is always with great sadness when I have to announce the passing of one of our League Members.
Please take a moment to read the following announcement and remember one of our own.
Phil Streifel has recently passed away at the age of 103.
Phil was one of our founding members and played
17 seasons with CSMS 55+.
From 89,90
92,93,94
and 2000 to 2011.
Phil pitched until he was 91 years young.

Please read Phil’s Obituary below ,

STREIFEL, Philip Paul
1920 – 2023

Philip Streifel passed away peacefully on August 23 at 103 years of age, following a brief illness. Born in Krupp, Saskatchewan on July 29, 1920, he is the son of the late Joseph and Magdelena Streifel. He is survived by his wife of 76 years, Catharine (nee Bleile), and children Shane (Patricia) of Washington, D.C., and Cheri Chalmers (James), Sheldon, and James (Angie) all of Calgary. He is also survived by his brother Charles of Victoria. He was predeceased by his sisters Eva Heisler, Bene Streifel, Kathleen Kelly, and Dorothy LeBlanc, and bothers Edward, Lambert and William. He is also survived by 9 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, 8 great-great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Phil grew up during the Depression and worked hard as a farmhand to save $120 to train at the Molar Barber College in Calgary in 1940. Phil honed his skills at the Banff Springs Hotel and Wales barber shops before establishing his own business. He barbered for 71 years, owning the Nevan and Chinook barber shops. Work was always a pleasure, and he immensely enjoyed the camaraderie of customers, friends and strangers. The motto he worked by was “treat every customer like they were your only client”. For his generations of achievement and dedication, he was “White Hatted” in 2005 at Chinook Centre for his many years of exemplary service.

His barbering career was interrupted during WWII, where he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force to serve for four years as an aircraft technician, stationed near Hagersville, Ontario. He also worked at Canadian Pacific Airlines repair depot in Calgary during the Korean War years performing maintenance on Harvard aircraft used to train NATO pilots.
Phil was blessed with good health and unlimited energy. He built his first house in 1949 bicycling from downtown to Killarney after work. He meticulously took care of their well-kept homes and yards all his life.

Music was a lifelong pleasure, and he was known for his banjo playing, but also played bugle in the Air Force band, and could extract tunes out of many instruments, especially the harmonica. Phil was an avid square dance caller in the 1950s and 1960s, organizing many clubs in Calgary and communities as far away as Drumheller, calling dances up to seven nights per week during its heyday. During the 1960s, he transitioned to become a pioneer disc jockey in the city for parties and dances for 25 years.

Sports were a passion, where he helped organize the first slo-pitch baseball league in Calgary. He pitched in a men’s senior league until 91 years of age and curled and speed-skated past 97 years of age.

Phil was devoted to his family, business, church and community. With his loving wife Kat, they loved to play bridge and entertain friends, and enjoyed singing and dancing. They traveled to distant places in Asia and Europe, but also enjoyed camping in earlier years with children, and later trailering together in Canada and the U.S. Phil also visited his family’s German ancestor villages in Ukraine near Odessa, and the Alsace region of France. Phil was a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Phil may be most remembered for endless conversation and storytelling to friends and strangers alike. He had a great sense of humor and quick wit and loved playing innocent pranks on children and adults. He always enjoyed a good laugh, and his smiling face will be forever remembered.

Funeral mass will be celebrated at St. James Catholic Church (5504 20 St SW) on Thursday, September 14 at 11 a.m. Reception to follow. Evening prayers will be held at St. James on Wednesday, September 13 at 7 p.m. Ashes will be interred privately at Sacred Heart Church Columbarium in Calgary.

If friends so desire, memorial donations may be made to War Amputations of Canada, 2827 Riverside Dr., Ottawa Ontario, K1V OC4.

The family would like to thank the Doctors and Nursing staff at Unit 81 of the Foothills Hospital for their care and comfort.

Regards,
Paul McNeil
CSMS 55 +