R.I.P. Gary Thomas, former IBL commissioner

Former Intercounty Baseball League commissioner and Stratford Hillers player Gary Thomas has died at the age of 89. Photo: CBL

August 17, 2026

Official Canadian Baseball League News Release

STRATFORD, ONT. – Gary Thomas, a one-time Intercounty Baseball League star with Stratford who later served as IBL commissioner for four years, died Aug. 15.

He was 89.

Thomas enjoyed success on the mound with his hometown Nationals/Kraven Knits, an Intercounty career that ended in 1972 when he was 35. He threw a two-hit shutout in one of his final starts and was named one of Stratford’s top 20 IBL players at the league’s 100th anniversary celebrations in 2019.

After retiring as a player, Thomas coached the Stratford peewees to a national championship in 1977. That club included third baseman Robert Froese, who later set a single-season IBL hits record of 66 with the Kitchener Panthers in 1984 before later joining the Stratford Hillers.

Thomas returned to the IBL as commissioner from 1998 to 2001, taking the league’s top job after John Coppes’ four-year term ended. When Stratford’s John Kastner became commissioner in 2014, Thomas was one of the first to call and offer advice and encouragement.

“It seems like just a few months ago that Gary was on my front porch getting copies of the IBL 100th anniversary book where we are both mentioned,” Kastner said. “That in itself is an incredible honour. Gary was whip smart, a fantastic husband and father, a great friend, an unflappable leader who acted with principle and wisdom even while those all around him may have been reeling. The world, and especially Stratford, was a richer place because of his presence.”

In accordance with Thomas’s wishes, there will not be a funeral service or visitation, but a celebration of life will be announced at a later date. Donations to the Stratford General Hospital Foundation or the Stratford Festival Endowment Foundation can be made as expressions of sympathy.