An avid hockey player as a youth, and a keen analyst of the game, he built a backyard rink for his children, and coached Wayne continually from the age of three, devising creative exercises and drills, and teaching him profound insights into how to play successfully.

[1] Wayne credited his father as playing a key role in his success, citing advice such as "skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been".

[2] Gretzky contributed to minor hockey in Canada, and helped many local, provincial and national charities, for which he was honoured.

The Gretzky family were landowners in the Russian Empire, and supporters of Tsar Nicholas II[3] originally from Grodno (now in the Republic of Belarus).

[3] Following World War I, Anton, who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force,[3] would marry his wife, Mary, who immigrated from Pidhaitsi, Ukraine).

[9][full citation needed] However, "the only Slavic language spoken in the Gretzky family [was] Ukrainian,"[6] of which Walter was a fluent speaker from birth.

[10][3] Tony and Mary owned a 25-acre (10 ha) cucumber farm in Canning, Ontario,[11] where Walter Gretzky was born and raised.

They married in 1960, and moved to Brantford, Ontario, where Gretzky worked as a cable repairman for Bell Telephone Canada.

[5][13] The family moved into a house on Varadi Avenue in Brantford seven months after the birth of their son, Wayne, chosen partly because the yard was flat enough to be able to make an ice rink every winter.

He preferred hockey, and in his teens was a prolific goal-scorer during five years of play with the Junior B-level Woodstock Warriors.

[16] Walter Gretzky devised numerous creative ways to develop hockey skills, which were often ahead of their time in Canada.

[21]In his autobiography, Wayne describes how his Dad would teach him the fundamentals of smart hockey, quiz style: Him: "Where do you skate?"

[27] He felt a sense of compassion and persuaded his father to set up a golf tournament to raise cash for the CNIB.

Brendan Shanahan, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Eddie Mio, Brett Hull, Gordie Howe, Scott Stevens, Mark Messier, Marty McSorley, Glen Campbell and Paul Coffey are among hockey names that have attended.

Celebrities who have attended include John Candy, Rob Lowe, Teri Garr, Alan Thicke, Jamie Farr, Bob Woods, Kevin Smith, and David Foster.

[29] Another fundraiser that Walter Gretzky established was the SCORE program (Summer Computer Orientation Recreational Education).

[40] Gretzky was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2012 and died on March 4, 2021, after suffering a hip injury three weeks prior, at the age of 82.