Growing up in Port Arthur, Ab learned about the sports he would later coach by first playing them. Ab enjoyed success in junior hockey with the North Stars and the Canadiens, baseball with the Red Sox, football with the Mustangs as well as claiming golf titles at area clubs. From 1956-61, he attended the University of North Dakota on a hockey scholarship. Offered contracts with the B.C. Lions and the Calgary Stampeders of the C.F.L., he elected to go into the teaching profession.

Starting at Selkirk High School in 1962, right up until his passing in 1992, Ab dedicated his life to providing sporting opportunities for thousands of young athletes. Ab is perhaps best remembered for his contributions in football including the dynasties he built at Selkirk and Westgate high schools with an incredible 9 Northwestern Ontario Secondary School Association championship titles to his credit. A driving force behind the formation of the Thunder Bay Giants in 1984, Ab served as the team's first head coach and was responsible for much of the team's early success. Ab was also active with the Northwestern Ontario, Ontario and Canadian Amateur Football Associations.

At Westgate C & VI from 1967-92, Ab devoted countless hours to coaching basketball, wrestling, golf, hockey, track and field and soccer. His effectiveness as a coach saw some of his students garner national and international honours and others go on to teach and coach. Not surprisingly Ab was awarded the 1990 Pete Beach Award by the Ontario Federation of Secondary Schools Athletic Associations as one who truly typified the function of a teacher/coach - a source of discipline, a mentor and a friend.

Inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, September 25th, 1993