Wally Ursuliak

Wally Ursuliak (June 30, 1929 – March 7, 2025) was a Canadian curler from Morinville, Alberta.

Biography Ursuliak was given the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays from Kunihiko Tanabe, Consul-General of Japan in Calgary, on 15 June 2017. Ursuliak began curling at the age of 23 at the Alberta Avenue Curling Club.

He was the lead on the Alberta Avenue CC curling team (from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) during the World Curling Championships known as the 1961 Scotch Cup. He was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 2006.

Ursuliak quit competitive curling in 1969 due to a shoulder injury.

During the 1960s and 1970s, he along with Ray Turnbull and Don Duguid operated a series of curling clinics in Europe to try to popularize the game. In 1980s, he was also credited with introducing the game to the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Despite his work as a curling instructor around the world, Curling Canada prevented him from coaching a junior curling team in 1987 as he did not have his level three coaching certificate.

In addition to his work as a curling instructor, Ursuliak worked as the general sales manager of Ailsa Craig Curling Stones, a job he took in 1976.

Personal life and death Ursuliak had three children and was married to Sandy. Ursuliak died in Canada on March 7, 2025, at the age of 95.