The following obituary is best enjoyed with the sun upon your face, a coffee or beer in hand, and with Skynyrd, the Eagles or Ozark Mountain Daredevils playing.
Colin grew up on Walford Road halfway between McLeod Public and Lockerby Composite and it was here that Colin, within bedroom earshot of both ringing school bells honed his impeccable ability to be five minutes late for just about everything he did.
Colin wasn’t very malleable. He couldn’t be formed into a mold and he couldn’t adhere to norms and ideals imposed on him by authority if he didn’t see their merit. For Colin, school was the place for learning what happened after he left the party on the weekend and where next weekend’s bash was supposed to be. His greatest achievements during his adolescent and teenage years were usually related to his remarkable athleticism. He was a quick sprinter, a high jumper and most notably a skilled hockey player not afraid to drop the gloves at a moment’s notice in the spirit of old-time hockey justice (or to settle an off-ice issue in front of a crowd).
Colin’s personal interests didn’t align with post-secondary pursuits, so he didn’t have a wall of framed professional designations, college degrees or accolades aside from one: Certified Zamboni Driver. More on that later.
Colin embarked on a life-long journey of collecting experiences. His resume (if he ever made one) would read like an ancient scroll of the yellow pages. He worked at Leuschen Bros., Pete’s Rentall, Fairmont Banff Springs hotel, was a Fire Ranger with the MNR, joined the Reserve Army and sold Hondas in Toronto to name a few. He tried his hand at pipefitting under the guiding eye of his father Marv, but somewhere along the way he realized that while he wanted to put his gifted brain to use in a productive way, he didn’t want to get his trademark Levis & Adidas Gazelles dirty. So he went to work and chose his career: Entrepreneur. (Although sometimes he’d call himself an Entremanure).
Somehow he learned the ins-and-outs of plastic injection molding, corporate marketing speak and polished his Northern Ontario abrasiveness away and created the Advertray: A restaurant server’s best friend — a non-slip, low-fatigue bartending tray complete with pen holders, change slots & most importantly promotional space for brands. He enjoyed success with several sizable orders from Labbatt’s and Canadian Club but he was most proud of the tray’s success when friends would come back from vacations with stories of seeing his product in use across the world. One friend even stuffed one in their luggage - "Hey Colin, look what I stole for you in Jamaica!"
Back in Sudbury, Colin started his first local business in 1990: Sudbury Air Duct Cleaning Systems. He bought an old vacuum truck, hired a few friends and set off to suck up dust from people’s homes. Although his HVAC experience was limited to just a few months worth of selling AC units in the heatwaves of Toronto, he made a go of it and naturally found his own kind of success: an invitation to drive the big truck down to New York City to appear on Late Night with David Letterman. This is a whole story on its own, but here’s the ‘reader’s digest’ version: He was called to do a duct cleaning service on a woman’s home, and while things went smoothly, her lovely cat named Pebbles was noted to be missing following the service. Later that day, Colin & co. heard the truck meowing. The cat was in the truck! One newspaper article quoted Colin as saying “we suck up stones and rocks all the time - but never Pebbles!” Letterman caught wind of the story and wanted Colin to drive the truck to his show where he’d bring the truck on set and Dave would see what other stuff he could suck up. The truck wasn’t nearly reliable enough for the drive so it never happened. Pebbles lived a long, healthy life with her owner after a quick dust-off.
Colin’s most notable business venture — his Magnum Opus — was the monthly publication South Side Story that he and Monika started in June of 1993. It was here that Colin truly hit his stride as a community builder, local business advocate and general purveyor of happiness. Colin was the ‘big picture’ figure, and along with his long-time partner Dave Predie they handled the sales and marketing of the publication. “Monika’s the brains — I just have a helluva paper route” he often quipped. For three decades South Side Story graced the coffee tables, waiting rooms and toilet tanks of Sudbury, providing humour, insights, trivia and the untold histories of a city that Colin truly loved.
Colin always supported the underdog. When Home Depot opened its behemoth store in Sudbury in the early 2000s, they approached him with an offer to advertise at a significant premium rate, but with one caveat — exclusivity. Colin kindly told them to kick rocks and that they weren’t welcome to advertise in his paper because he predicted the harm that they would do to the mom-and-pop shops of Sudbury. He was a champion for local businesses, and it wasn’t until a few years ago that he finally caved and broke his self-imposed boycott of Walmart. He enjoyed their late hours where he could covertly acquire his beloved Jo Louis and ‘Flakey Pastries’ under the cover of darkness.
Colin created the Shop Sudbury Shops campaign in the early 2000s to combat the increasing presence of box stores. Some of his yellow decals are still proudly displayed in the windows of local businesses 25 years later. He was also a critical part of the three-person team that brought the Bridge of Nations project from dream to reality when he exercised his fundraising muscles to raise the needed capital to celebrate Sudbury’s important multiculturalism.
Colin was a proud and successful coach of his young son Zach’s minor hockey team and helped organize the volunteering parents who would take care of the outdoor rink at Algonquin Playground. It was over a beer or three one evening after a frigid rink flood that someone planted the idea in his mind that “it’d be more fun if we could do this with a Zamboni”. The next day, Colin had a lead on a used Zamboni in Sault. Ste. Marie, and by the next fall, Algonquin Playground had their own purpose-built building and all the required plumbing, heating and equipment needed to make Algonquin the first outdoor playground in Canada to have their own real deal Zamboni thanks to many generous local sponsors. His relationship with the City’s Parks Department was tenuous at times but they ultimately learned to revert to the position of “let him be” when Colin had a plan. His civic mindedness led him to throw his hat into the ring for the Mayor’s race in 2003. He garnered nearly 9,000 votes with a unique campaign not focussed on the shortcomings of the municipality, but rather the potential of working together as a community. His perpetual optimism never ceased, and he carried this outlook until the very end.
Colin’s personal interests reflected his curious personality. He was interested in hearing about everything imaginable. He loved to write — no surprise here — but he loved reading and spent heaps of his personal time thumbing through books or going down wikipedia rabbit holes. He was an aspiring chef at home — a self-described grillmaster — although he had a penchant for barbecuing in the dark, so the steaks were often cooked just right for his preference: extra well done. Considering his simple culinary upbringing where ketchup was exotic, Colin’s palette evolved into one of impressive culture - however he’d still always choose a dipped cone from DQ over a slice of Tiramisu.
He was a lifelong gearhead. His older brother Kevin ignited his affinity for motorcycling and fast cars, and Colin’s most prized possession was Kevin’s Kawasaki KZ650 that Colin tracked down and restored following the death of his brother in 1989. He fondly remembered his first car, a 1970 Chevelle SS amongst the countless other cool cars and fast motorcycles that he squealed tires on throughout his life. He was a highly skilled car driver and motorcycle rider, and he excelled in track racing in Southern Ontario with local friends on several occasions.
Life at home with Colin was an adventure. His zaniness and the nature of his ‘job’ meant the home life was unconventional in all of the best ways. He’d regularly collect Alex, Kallie & Zach from elementary school in his Jeep and play hookey, because ‘there’s more to learn outside today, so let’s go for a drive or do something cool’. He was an incredible father who instilled curiosity from a young age into the kids. Vacations with the family unit were always entertaining and marrying his high school sweetheart Monika in 1987 was a wise move in keeping his unpredictable nature in check. Colin often spoke about his family being his greatest legacy and he was proud of the unbreakable bond between his three children. He was an incredible father who never lost his youthful enthusiasm for life.
Colin was born in Cambellton, New Brunswick on August 9, 1961. He is survived by his Wife Monika Berens, children Alexandra (Matt Albin), Kallie (Jeff Bona) and Zachary (Hannah Poole). Lovingly missed by his Mother Dora (Marven 2015), sisters Deb (Brock), Dianne (Robert), Karen (Matt) and predeceased by his older brother Kevin (1989). He was a big brother to the Berens’ Katherine (Kyle), Carla (Scott), Rainer and David (Nathalie) and he was a fun uncle to many nieces and nephews.
He’ll be missed by his lifelong co-pilot Ken Jones and the rest of the Lockerby gang along with the the Weapons of Grass Destruction golfing buddies. He loved his Blyth Road neighbours (even you, Rosie). Colin was a larger-than-life figure and along the way he made many friends — too many to possibly list here — that made a difference in his life.
The family wishes to thank Chris Kemp, Roger Chiasson, Rob Dinan, Fred Slade, Darren & Sandy Moroso, Vicki Destefano and Rennie Mastin for their friendship and support. Gracious thanks to Dr. Malone, Dr. Shehata and all the nurses and PSWs at the Cancer Centre and Bayshore (who Colin called his angels) for their compassion and care over Colin’s final months.
Donations can be made in Colin’s name to the Algonquin Playground Association.
Stories and memories of Colin are welcomed by the family by email at [email protected]
There will be an opportunity for friends and family to gather this coming Friday April 19th at the Beef n’ Bird on Lorne after 7pm. Come hoist a beer and tell some tales of the life Colin lived.
Colin’s three adages for a live well lived were “Don’t sweat the small stuff", "A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet", and "Be kind to everyone. You don’t know what they’re battling.”.
Arrangements entrusted to Sudbury Park Lawn Cremation Services.