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William (Bill) A.R. Orban, as his name appears on numerous scientific papers and publications and who is often called Canada's pioneer of physical fitness, passed away in October 2003 at the age of 81 years. As the renowned author of the 5BX program, Bill devoted his life (working and retirement) to the study of the effects of exercise on the body.
Bill Orban was himself a superb athlete, active in many sports of which football and hockey were his favourites. He played professional football with the Regina (now Saskatchewan) Roughriders (1941) and later with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1945), and was an excellent basketball player and boxer. Bill was a Junior A hockey player and landed himself a hockey scholarship at the University of California Berkley in 1941. He continued to play hockey right up to age 60 and ran 14 kilometers every day until the age 73. Bill continued to exercise daily perhaps with a 3 km walk or a 12 km bike ride until the age of 80.
A brief look at his career illustrates that his whole life was dedicated to academics and research in the broad field of physical education, sports psychology, human kinetics, fitness, kinesiology, and kinanthropology (as the...