MURRAY LEONARD WEPPLER

(June 13, 1938 – October 24, 2025) Murray died on Friday, October 24, 2025, in Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. Newspaperman, politico, sailor, and self-admitted curmudgeon, Murray was born in St. Boniface, Manitoba. His father was a railwayman, and he grew up in small towns near CNR railway stations across the prairies. As a young man, he wrote for newspapers from Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) to Nanaimo. He left Thunder Bay with his first wife, Judy, for Hong Kong, where he secured a position at the South China Morning Post. From there, they explored the world before returning to Canada seven years later with their daughter, Carolyn. Murray never shied away from making his opinions heard, whether debating policy at a political convention or raucously arguing over the correct oven temperature for the Thanksgiving turkey. His tenacity was matched and tempered only by his love for and appreciation of the people around him. An adamant labour activist and instinctive political organizer, he became NDP leader David Lewis's Press Secretary and Ed Broadbent's Chief of Staff on Parliament Hill. Subsequently, he worked closely with the Ontario NDP, then settled with his second wife, Patty Park, in Northumberland County. He successfully ran for municipal office in 1999, became an organic market gardener, and when Patty died in 2012, he reinvented himself yet again and cultivated an enthusiasm for opera, travelling to opera houses in Italy and Germany. Always true to himself, Murray Weppler was an original. He is survived by his daughter, Carolyn Weppler; son-in-law, Kyle Kerr; grandsons, Aidan and Rory Kerr; and sisters, Beryl Arnold and Doreen McKay. A Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, January 11, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m., at Murray's favourite pub, The Abbott, 3367 Yonge St., Toronto, ON.