BRIAN MOONEY Obituary
January 7, 1949 – June 26, 2025 Born in Port Daniel West, Quebec, to Charles and Marjorie Mooney, Brian was the eldest of four children and grew up in Montreal. He was educated at Sir George Williams University in Montreal and Strathclyde University in Glasgow, where he met Peggy, to whom he was married for almost 53 years. Following her graduation, they moved to Toronto. He was a loving and supportive husband and father to Peggy and their sons, Patrick and James, of whom he was very proud. He spent many years involved in coaching baseball and hockey and driving to arenas across the city. He was delighted when wonderful daughters-in-law, Lizzie and Vanessa, joined the family. In the last six years, he also welcomed grandchildren, Oscar, Alvin, and Sloane, and would be very sad not to see them grow up. From his time living in Glasgow, he became a lifelong soccer fan and had a season ticket to the Clyde football club. Up until his death, he watched European soccer matches on TV. He became interested in local history and architecture in Glasgow, which in retirement led him to volunteer on the Etobicoke York Preservation Panel and the Toronto Preservation Board until hearing impairment made participation difficult. Another passion was birding, which he combined with a love of photography, accumulating thousands of photos from Ontario and overseas locations. Following retirement from a long career in food manufacturing, he made the most of his free time with Peggy to travel two or three times a year, usually to Europe, combining hiking in the countryside with visits to cities, where visiting architecturally interesting churches, finding good birding spots, and eating at good restaurants formed his favourite activities. He loved Paris, where he had proposed to Peggy back in 1972, and tried to visit most years since retirement. His birding passion led him to discover the joy of winter trips to Costa Rica and Honduras, where his love of hummingbirds was fostered. His next birding trip was already booked for Panama next year. He also spent a lot of time on genealogy; he had amassed an enormous amount of information about both his and Peggy's family histories and was always ready to help friends with theirs. In Dublin and Canberra, he obtained reader's cards to their national libraries. In addition to Peggy, their sons, and grandchildren, he leaves sisters, Trudy, Cheryl, and Donna, as well as cousins across Canada and the United States. We will miss him enormously. A celebration of his life is planned for August 9, 2025. If desired, donations in Brian's memory can be made to Ontario Nature or the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Published by The Globe and Mail from Jul. 5 to Jul. 9, 2025.