This story is about the Laverty-Hall family. However, there is one very important person missing from the cover photo...  Ed Laverty (Eddie) was the pillar of this family. Although he is no longer with us, he left an everlasting impact on both the members of this family as well as the local community. Over 30 years ago Ed and Trudy Laverty moved to City View, with their two children, Tammy and Gordie. Ed worked for Northern Telecom for many years and Trudy ran a home daycare. Sadly, after a six-year battle with Alzheimer’s, Ed passed away in 2017. However, his legacy continues to shine on. Ed was the driving force behind the Ottawa Nepean Touch Football League (ONTFL). He worked for over five decades as a player, administrator, leader, builder, role model and noted ambassador. He also presided over Touch Football Ontario for nearly a decade and helped launch Touch Football Canada. While in charge of the ONTFL, he operated from  their home in City View in the converted office/garage, which became football headquarters!

Ed was President of the ONTFL for 50 years; with his wife Trudy supportively by his side before being succeeded by his son, Gordie Laverty in 2015. Gordie, a savvy quarterback like his father, continues to proudly run the league from their City View home. The ONTFL is Ottawa's premiere touch football league, an inclusive and diverse family-style run organization that welcomes people from all walks of life and registers hundreds of athletes and teams to participate in numerous divisions of play including men’s, women’s and co-ed divisions; now in it's 58th year of operation.

For the Laverty-Hall’s, family and football have always been an important and pivotal part of their lives. Tammy and Sean bonded over their mutual love of football – Sean a player since the tender age of eight and coach at the university level for almost 20 years, and Tammy through playing touch football since she was 13, being a professional CFL cheerleader for the Ottawa Rough Riders and former Miss Ottawa Rough Rider. Sean continues to coach football for the University of Ottawa Gee Gees where he won back-to-back Dunsmore Cups in 1995 and 1996 as a player.

The couple met in 2015 and were married in 2017 with Ed proudly walking his daughter down the aisle; they were surrounded by cherished family and friends including Sean’s parents, Sandra and Pat Hall, and his brother, Jim. After her father’s passing, Tammy and her husband purchased the Laverty home to keep it in their family. Now Tammy and Sean live in the main house, Trudy lives downstairs, and Gordie lives in the attached two bedroom apartment; along with their pets Captain, Maggie and Jersey.

“I'm sure many people can relate to the emotional and unpredictable journey of becoming a blended family and being surrounded by a wonderful community and neighbors in a great neighborhood like City View,” says Tammy. “Many of our neighbors have lived on our street for as long as we have; it's a great feeling to be surrounded by familiar faces that become like a second family.” “I think the separate apartment space plus the location of City View is what made my dad choose this specific house,” she explains. “He really saw the value in this neighborhood, which is still here today. City View really is the type of neighborhood that gives you a big hug!” Ed always had a passion for real estate. “He was involved & invested in this industry, owning several income properties over many years,” she explains. And it is clear that this passion was transferred to his daughter!

She is now an award-winning Realtor with Royal LePage Team Realty, having achieved the Directors Platinum award in 2021 and has been in real estate for over 10 years – A career she loves and thrives in being a people person like her father. Tammy also lived in Los Angeles for over a decade where she worked in client service and marketing, as well as in performing arts. “It was an eye-opening, humbling experience,” she says. “It made me grow up in every sense of the word.” When she returned to her roots 10 years later, it was her father who helped her begin the process of getting her real estate license. “Things kind of came full circle. It was a tough transition back, but we didn’t know then we would only have seven more years with my dad, so I am so grateful that I moved home and we had that precious time with him.”

The Laverty-Hall family knows that being part of a blended family is not always easy, especially with a significant and life changing family loss. “There are many ups and downs, but we've also enjoyed many wonderful get-togethers in our long-time home and our backyard including BBQ’s, movie nights and football games,” she says. “We want to carry on that tradition with close friends and family; when it comes to the importance of family, love and legacy; we are all on the same page of carrying on those important principles of life together one play at a time!”

In 2018 Tammy created the Ed Laverty Legacy Sports Fund, a not-for-profit fund established to honor the life of her father who gave over 50 years of his life building generations of community in sport. The legacy’s primary goal is to raise funds for resources, organizations and programs that help empower, educate and encourage ‘youth in sport’. If you would like to donate, visit the legacy’s website: edlavertylegacy.com.