He was a four-time all-star.

He won three rushing titles.

He was named Most Outstanding Canadian on two occasions.

He was once named Canada’s male athlete of the year.

He played 13 professional seasons, went to the Grey Cup seven times and won four championships.

He was a member of the 1948 Calgary Stampeders, the Red and White’s first Grey Cup winner and still the only Canadian team to go through an entire season undefeated.

Some would be content to rest on that remarkable athletic career and coast for the rest of their life, but not Lim Kwong Yew. Better known as Normie Kwong or the China Clipper, the Calgary native quickly moved past the ex-jock phase to become a businessman, a football executive, a hockey magnate, a politician, a statesman and socially conscious mover and shaker.

For the past five years, Kwong has been Alberta’s lieutenant governor and the 80-year-old legend became misty-eyed last month when he delivered his farewell throne speech.

“It has been my honour to serve Albertans as lieutenant governor over these past five years,” said Kwong. “This job has been the highlight of a rewarding career that took many unexpected turns. No one could be as surprised as I am that my road brought me to where it did. I’m grateful for every day and every experience I’ve had as Alberta’s lieutenant governor.”

The lieutenant-governorship is hardly the only prestigious entry on Kwong’s resume. He’s a member of the Order of Canada, a Chancellor of the Alberta Order of Excellence, a former National Chairman of the Canadian Consultative Council on Multiculturalism and an honoured inductee in numerous halls of fame including the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the Alberta Sports Hall Fame.

And yet, despite his lofty credentials, he remains a down-to-earth individual and his many admirers to this day have to fight the urge to call him “Normie” instead of the Norman Kwong that is more appropriate to his position.

Kwong was born in Calgary in 1929, one of six children of Chinese immigrants Charles and Lily Kwong. He attended Calgary’s Western Canada High School and joined the Stamps in 1948 at the tender age of 18.

At age 19, he was the Stamps’ leading rusher and helped Calgary reach the Grey Cup title game. He was traded to Edmonton in 1951 and would spend a decade with the Eskimos. By the time his career ended in 1960, he held more than 30 league records.

His second career was in the private sector, particularly in the area of real estate as he became a vice-president and general manager of Torode Realty.

In 1980, he was part of the ownership group that purchased the Atlanta Flames and moved the hockey club to Calgary. Kwong remained a co-owner until 1994 and thanks to the Flames’ championship in 1989, he became one of the few individuals to win both a Grey Cup and a Stanley Cup.

He returned to the Stampeders in 1988 to serve as president and general manager. It was during Kwong’s tenure that the Stamps hired Wally Buono, a move which ushered in the most successful period in franchise history.