John Crerar; Organized Youth Hockey League

John Crerar, 78, a self-described Rhode Island "rink rat" who helped popularize ice hockey in Washington and the southeastern United States, died Oct. 14 of complications from diabetes at his home in Aiken, S.C. He was a Silver Spring resident from 1958 until 1998, when he moved to Aiken.

For a New Englander who grew up playing hockey all day and hawking peanuts at night to rabid fans of the Rhode Island Reds hockey team, Washington offered precious little opportunity for the high-speed thrills and skating skills of competitive hockey. Mr. Crerar resolved to seed and nurture the cold-weather sport in his new home town, despite its warmer clime and Southern ways.

From a nucleus of boys who skated weekly at Uline Arena on Third Street NE, he helped organize youth hockey, forming the Capital Boys Hockey Club, which became the Capital Beltway Hockey League.

"When we started the program in Washington, we had 16 kids," he told a hockey publication last year. "Now the program has somewhere between 23,000 and 24,000 kids in 11 states."

He also revived an independent semiprofessional team, the Washington Chiefs, winners of a national championship in 1968, and organized the Southeastern District of USA Hockey, the governing body for amateur hockey in the United States. In 1969, he became a director of USA Hockey, which also governs the U.S. Olympic hockey team.

When the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League arrived in the early 1970s, he became director of operations for off-ice officials, including the statisticians, timekeeper and overseer of penalty minutes. He held the unpaid position for 32 years.

John Duncan McAllister Crerar Sr. was born in Providence, R.I., and attended Brown University, but he dropped out to join the Air Force in 1948. Returning to Providence in the early 1950s, he took a job with Coca-Cola as director of special events.

In 1958, he became a traveling salesman for the Gorham Bronze Co., a manufacturer of bronze grave markers and commemorative plaques. He became vice president of marketing and sales in 1977 and executive vice president in 1988. He and his son bought the company in 1991; he retired in 1998.

"He enjoyed the challenges of being a start-up person," his daughter said, so when he moved to Aiken, he resolved to take hockey with him. He bought a rink in nearby Augusta, Ga., and worked to bring a minor-league team to the area.

"I retired from my regular job, got bored and bought an ice rink," he said last year. "It is a lot slower pace, but we do have some kids who are developing."

Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Alice S. Crerar of Aiken; two children, Claire Hosker of Reston and John Duncan Crerar Jr. of Aldie; and two grandchildren.