BC Minor Baseball and the baseball community as a whole lost a great friend on Tuesday, March 19th when long-time minor baseball volunteer John Niemi passed away suddenly. From the mid-1980 "s through till 2012 John was a fixture in Coquitlam-Moody Minor Baseball.  He began volunteering as his sons Jeff and Derek went through the system but carried on his devotion to the game long after they stopped playing. John filled many executive positions in CMMBA over the years from President to the thankless task of equipment manager at a time registration was at it's highest in the association. John's true love though was on the field with the kids, and through all the years you would never hear an ill word spoken of him.

John was a gentle giant who was very soft-spoken and would do whatever it took to help both the association and the teams he was coaching. John was often known to have his own opinion when coaching which sometimes went against the grain, but he was usually proven to be correct.  His actions were always in the best interests of the players he coached.  While if he was still here today, I am sure he would state that he enjoyed all his teams equally his highlights would have to be the Silver medal his Bantam AAA team captured in Windsor, Ontario in 2005 and also the Western Canadian Championship team he managed in 2010-. As recognition for his contribution to Minor Baseball in BC John was elected to the BC Minor Roll of honour in 2005.  John is survived by his two sons Jeff and Derek and 4 Grandchildren who he loved very much. R.I.P Big guy --you will be missed by all !!!

Memorial Service will be held on April 13th at the Open Door Church in Maple Ridge – 11391 Dartford Street – 1:00 PM