"He was the reason I fell in love with ice hockey.
He inspired me to be as good as I could, not only in hockey but in life. ”
Walter Gretzky followed his son Wayne's career very closely, from freezing sitting and waiting in the car when his son refused to leave the rink in the park, through his youth to the professional years where Wayne Gretzky won the Stanley Cup four times with Edmonton and set NHL records in goals, assists and total points in the NHL's regular season (2,857 total).
According to Wayne Gretzky, his father struggled with Parkinson's and other diseases in recent years.