He's not a Sudburian, but many people in the Nickel City would know Maury East's name because of the influential role he played in Killarney, a popular tourist area located about an hour south of Sudbury, on Georgian Bay.
Maury East, who owned Killarney Mountain Lodge on the scenic Killarney channel for 53 years before selling the property in 2015 and retiring to Parry Sound, passed away Sept. 10.
His daughter, Katherine East, said her father's health had become increasingly frail over the last few years. He'd recently broken his hip and entered a Parry Sound nursing home.
Maury, who was 93, is survived by his wife, Annabelle, and five children from his two marriages, Ted, Brien, John, Jennifer and Katherine, as well as seven grandchildren.
Following his wishes, the East family is not holding a funeral service, but there will be a celebration of Maury's life from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 at Killarney Mountain Lodge.
While the Easts were best known as the owners of Killarney Mountain Lodge, Maury also established Killarney Outfitters and at one time owned another Killarney landmark, the Sportsman's Inn.
An accomplished pilot, Maury was integral to the community opening its own airport, and offered sightseeing and chartered flights.
Katherine said her parents were major employers in the community, and made sure that when they sold Killarney Mountain Lodge, it was to someone who would continue to employ Killarney residents.
The property has undergone significant renovations since it changed ownership almost three years ago.
“You should see the messages I'm getting from people from Killarney — old people — just saying that dad was everything,” Katherine said.
“I just don't know if Killarney would have survived for some of those decades without him, when the economy was crap.”
Katherine describes her parents' marriage as a “53-year love story.”
“Mom had never, ever dated anyone else,” she said. “She saw him, and that was it. Dad got a look at her, and that was it.
“It's an unusual marriage because most people marry and have their own lives, but mom and dad were in business together. They spent all day together.”
Katherine said her father didn't have the best start in life. He was born in 1924 in Rock Ferry, England. His mother took him as an infant to the United States to find the father that had left them in England.
His mother abandoned him there, putting him in a foster home and returning to England. Maury was raised by his paternal grandmother in Buffalo, New York.
“He really came from nothing and created amazing things,” Katherine said.
In 1942, at the age of 18, Maury came to Canada because he wanted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force.
He trained in Canada before being sent to England for further training in Bomber Command, where he survived a plane crash. Just as his training finished, the war ended, but he remained in the RCAF for a time.
In 1959, he married and worked in his wife's family business, Limberlost Lodge in Huntsville.
Maury then became heavily involved in the tourism industry in the Muskoka area, owning businesses including Muskoka Sands Inn (now Taboo) and Fort Kawandag before moving his operations to Killarney.
Because of the employment he provided to First Nations people in Muskoka, a First Nations chief gave Maury the name Wabananung and Annabelle the name Wasseabin.
Katherine said she's grown very close to her father over the last few years, and calls him her “best friend” and “hero.”
“When I was with him the other day, we were sitting outside,” Katherine said.
“There's this garden at the nursing home, and he loved the flowers and butterflies. He looked up, and there was this big, fluffy sky.
“And he just said, you know, I used to fly above the clouds. Mom and I were there when he died. She just kissed him and said 'I think I just heard you start your airplane.' ”
