Charles Joseph Sylvanus (Syl) Apps ‘36

Born in Paris, Ontario in 1915, Charles Joseph Sylvanus (Syl) Apps attended McMaster in the 1930s and was an outstanding student athlete as he pursued his degree in economics. 1934, he won the gold medal in pole vaulting at the British Empire Games and competed in the 1936 Olympics where he placed sixth. He signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs and after a distinguished career was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.

Apps was elected Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, serving the riding of Kingston from 1963 to 1967. Apps was appointed Minister of Correctional Services in 1971, serving in that position until 1974. In 1975, he was elected to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and he is also a member of the Canadian Amateur Athletics Hall of Fame and McMaster University’s Sports Hall of Fame. Apps was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1977.

For more information on Syl Apps click here.