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Fotis MAVRIPLIS Obituary

Published by Monteal Gazette from Mar. 12 to Mar. 14, 2012.

MAVRIPLIS, Fotis
Passed away peacefully on March 9, 2012 at the age of ninety-two while at the Jewish General Hospital. Beloved husband of Linda (nee Calder) Mavriplis for fifty-seven years. Caring father of Cleo, Dimitri (Martine), and Cathy. Loving papous of Jamie, Christopher, Nicolas, Matthew, Stephanie, Willie, Andrew, Alexandre, and Marie. Also mourned by brother Socrates and sisters Katerina and Annoula in Greece. Predeceased by brothers Manos and Drossis. Fotis had a long and productive life working as an aerospace engineer and engaged in many sports including representing Greece at the 1948 Winter Olympics. He remains in our hearts forever. Special thanks to the caring staff of CLSC Bordeaux-Cartierville, the Jewish General Hospital and the Julius Richardson Hospital Center. Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14 at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 2455 Cote Ste. Catherine. Visitation Tuesday, March 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Moshonas Ouimet Funeral Home, 693 Jean Talon West. Burial in Mount Royal Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Hellenic Ladies Benevolent Society, C.P. 94, Mt. Royal, Montreal, Quebec, H3P 3B8 would be appreciated.

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Recent Activity

June 19, 2012

Fatih Tezok posted to the memorial.

March 20, 2012

Family Mavriplis posted to the memorial.

March 20, 2012

Laura Murray posted to the memorial.

11 Entries

Fatih Tezok

June 19, 2012

Our deepest condolences. Will always remember escape capsul, lamflow, mdrag, supercritical and specially enjoyed kupeli ada stories, + more he is part of aero history..

Family Mavriplis

March 20, 2012

FOTIS MAVRIPLIS was born on January 31, 1920, the first of a family of six children in Thessaloniki, Greece. Growing up he enjoyed going to the local YMCA, which started his lifelong love of sports. He also spent many happy summers at the Y camp in Pilion. He became one of the top runners in Thessaloniki and was selected to carry the Olympic torch as it passed through Thessaloniki in preparation for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which he also attended as a young teenager in his first trip abroad. He later moved to Germany at the young age of 17, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, to attend the Technical University of Munich in aeronautical engineering. After graduating from TU Munich in 1941-42, he worked as an engineer in Munich during the war while spending his weekends in St Anton, Austria where he took up skiing. As the war drew to a close, and life in the city became difficult, he moved permanently to St Anton where he lived for several years. It is here that he became a good skier and at the insistence of his Austrian friends, represented Greece in the 1948 Olympics in St Moritz, Switzerland.

However, Fotis wanted to work in the aeronautical industry as an engineer, and eventually he left Austria to seek work elsewhere in Europe. After various short term engineering jobs in France, he decided that he needed to emigrate to North America if he was ever to realize his dream. In 1951, he emigrated to Canada, settling in Toronto working for an engineering consulting firm. He then moved to Montreal, where he finally landed a job at Canadair. Fotis quickly fell in love with the cosmopolitan city of Montreal, his new job at Canadair, and the nearby ski mountains of Quebec and Vermont. It is through Canadair and through skiing that he met Linda Calder, and they married in 1955, starting a marriage that lasted 57 years. They had three children, Cleoniki, Dimitri, and Catherine who grew up in Montreal. He instilled these important values he had developed in his children. Winter was filled with skiing weekends spent teaching the whole family to be good skiers. In the summer, yearly trips to Cape Cod in the early years, and to Greece in the latter years to be by the sea he loved so much. Education was paramount throughout, and all three children were encouraged to work hard and eventually go on to university graduate studies.

As his family grew up, his career expanded. After severe downsizing, Canadair launched an ambitious new business jet in collaboration with Bill Lear, the entrepreneur responsible for the Lear Jet. Fotis became the lead aerodynamics engineer on the Canadair Challenger, where he worked closely with Bill Lear, often working together from his ranch in Reno NV. Fotis went on to be the chief aerodynamics designer for the series of regional jets developed by Canadair and Bombardier, and for the ultra long range Global Express business jet. He became a fellow of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute in 1980, and was given the McCurdy award in 1998 for his contributions to the Canadian aerospace industry. Perhaps more importantly, he mentored and trained an entire generation of young engineers that went on to lead Bombardier's highly successful aerodynamics design group.

Fotis retired in 2001 at the age of 81, after 48.5 years of service to the company. He continued an active life, traveling to Greece every summer and skiing in the winters in Quebec, Vermont, and Vail, Colorado. He was extremely proud of his 9 grandchildren. He skied for the last time in 2004, at the age of 84. Unfortunately, by this time, the effects of Parkinson's were starting to slow him down. He continued to live at home, with the strong support and loving care of Linda until the very end.

Laura Murray

March 20, 2012

Sincere condolences to the Mavriplis family. Mr. Mavriplis brought much class and wonderful stories to the workplace.

Leroy & Linda Clarke

March 19, 2012

Fotis was one of those few, most unforgettable people we rarely have an opportunity to know. I knew him from my days at TWT when the early Challengers were being developed. My wife Linda, met him at those wonderful, after hours, group dinners Fotis was so fond of promoting. He always insisted to buy the wine. My wife, also named Linda, even though having met him only occasionally, still remembers him quite well, and his great smile, his grace, charm and courtly manners.

Our deepest sympathy to his loved ones,

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March 19, 2012

Our deepest sympathies to Cleo, Cathy, Dimitri and Linda. Our thoughts are with you.

Diane & Mike Bourne

Ken & Kathy Brass

March 14, 2012

Linda, Cleo, Dimitri & Cathy,

My fondest memories of Fotis occured at the ski hill. I remember being invited to ski with Dimitri and his family on several occasions at Smugglers Notch. It was easy to tell that Fotis (Mr. Mavriplis at that time) was in his element with a pair of skies attached to his feet. He had a big simile on his face, especially if the runs were laden with new snow. I remember talking to him about some technique and he was certainly knowledgeable about how to properly get down the mountain!

This is a sad moment and you should know that all of you are in our thoughts and prayers. Fotis will be missed.

William Brady

March 14, 2012

Dear Linda,
We want to extend our deepest sympathy to you and your family for your loss.
Bill and Eleanor Brady

Jocelyn&Rob Roy

March 13, 2012

Dear Mavriplis Family:
To each of you we send a prayer at this sad time. Fotis was truly a remarkable man. There are many more stories that I know will be shared when we are together. You are in our thoughts.
With love,
Robbie, Jocelyn, Rachael & Colin

George Danias

March 13, 2012

I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to Fotis's family and friends. I had the privilege to work with Fotis who was my manager when I joined Bombardier, about 24 years ago. Fotis was always very passionate about his work (Aerodynamics). I always found it easy to talk to him, and maybe this was due in part because we both shared the same ethnic origin. I will always remember him as a great individual both in and outside the avaition industry.

March 13, 2012

Our deepest sympathy to the Mavriplis family. May you find comfort knowing others are thinking of you throughout this difficult time.
Sincerely, Peter and Judy Kuzik
Lac des Seize Iles and
Ste-Anne-De-Bellevue, Qc

Pat Piperni

March 13, 2012

My heartfelt condolences to the family. I worked with Fotis for nearly 20 years in Advanced Aerodynamics at Canadair / Bombardier and always looked to him as a role model and visionary. It was truly a privilege to work with Fotis both on a professional and personal level and to share in his passion for aviation. In many ways his legacy lives on at Bombardier and he will always remain an inspirational figure to many of us.

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