Steve Witiuk, former professional hockey player with ties to Spokane, dies at 93

Steve Witiuk, a former National Hockey League player who played minor league, pro and senior amateur hockey for Spokane teams in the 1960s, died Nov. 30 in Spokane. He was 93.

Witiuk made Spokane his year-round home after retiring from pro hockey in 1967 following 15 seasons in the original (pro) Western Hockey League. He spent the next two seasons with the senior amateur Spokane Jets before hanging up his skates in 1969 at the age of 40.

Witiuk’s NHL career was limited to 33 games with Chicago as a first-year pro in 1951-52. Witiuk scored three goals and 11 points with Chicago. He also saw time with the minor league St. Louis Flyers that season.

Witiuk, a diminutive but fiery right winger, scored 294 goals and 717 points in 945 games in the defunct pro WHL. He scored 20 or more goals during nine of his 15 WHL seasons, including all three of his seasons with the Spokane Comets (1960-61 through 1962-63).

Witiuk, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. He married the former Dora Shero, who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the subject of the hit movie “A League of Their Own.” Dora, the sister of Hockey Hall of Fame coach Fred Shero, died in 2014.