Counsell, Maurice “Bud”
Passed away peacefully, at home, with his family by his side on Tuesday, August 4, 2020.
Bud Counsell, in his 94th year, was predeceased by his loving wife Minnie. He was the loving father of Kim Counsell and her husband Dave McConnell of Guelph, Kathy and her husband Bill Hicks of Minden and John Counsell of Dundas. He was the proud grandfather of Sean (Lena), Matthew (Tess), Brittany (Taylor), Brett and Spencer and great-grandfather of Liam.
He was born and grew up in Niagara Falls. His many stories of childhood were full of fun and adventures even though money was scarce. As a young man working at the Kimberley Clark Co. he laid his eyes on Minnie and knew “that was the one for me”. Although he had always shown an aptitude for art, it was Minnie who insisted he go to art school when they first married. His years studying at the Albright Gallery in Buffalo were among his happiest times. Upon finishing there he took a job in the advertising department of Simpsons and he and Minnie moved to Toronto. There he worked as a commercial artist for his entire career. Always, though, he was involved with fine art, which he took up with vigour after his retirement.
When the upkeep of their home in Mississauga became more than they could comfortably handle, they moved to Guelph to the Village by the Arboretum and then to the Royal on Gordon Retirement Residence. He was almost always happy wherever he was.
He left behind many gifts: his love of nature, demonstrated in his passion for trees (stroking their bark, admiring the dead ones for their magnificent structures) and birds (calling to and getting responses from cardinals and bluejays) and landscapes; his love of the arts and the creative process (becoming fully engrossed in the act of painting even when his eyesight was severely limited); his love of a joke and a witty comeback (in the emergency ward of the hospital he would have the nurses and doctors laughing), his love of stories, both the telling and the listening to; his love of family, which he often said was the most important thing to him; and his empathy for others (he never lost interest in what was happening in the world and felt injustices deeply). But perhaps the most important gift was the example he set of seeing the positive, of choosing to be happy.
His family will receive friends at the Gilbert MacIntyre and Son Funeral Home, Hart Chapel, 1099 Gordon St., Guelph on Monday, August 10, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. with a service to commemorate his life at 2:00 p.m. Due to Covid 19 restrictions, to reserve your attendance, please RSVP for visitation and his service on the Gilbert MacIntyre and Son website. If so desired, memorial donations made to the Foundation at the Guelph General Hospital would be appreciated by his family.
Thank you to all the staff of the Royal on Gordon for providing him with a wonderful home.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Maurice Bud Counsell Tuesday August 4th 2020..
Death notice for the town of: Guelph, Province: Ontario