 Skilled in multiple sports, Gerard has been recognized by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame to have been "a first class cricketer, an outstanding paddler and a better than ordinary baseball player" in his youth.At age 15 he helped the Ottawa-New Edinburgh Canoe Club win the junior Dominion paddling championship.In later life he was an avid golfer and fisherman, spending his summers near Pembroke, Ontario, a town close to Ottawa.