HomeMy WebLinkAbout393"Article copied from the News Advertiser, September 5, 2001, page3.
Illustration: Dr J. Murray Speirs died Monday, leaving a legacy of active environmentalism.
Renowned local ornithologist dies at 92
PICKERING — Bird lovers everywhere are mourning the loss of their ""quiet giant"".
Dr. J. Murray Speirs, whose long and distinguished career was honoured last November when
Governor General Adrienne Clarkson visited his Altona Road home in Pickering to invest him in
the Order of Canada, died Monday of heart failure at about 4 a.m. He was 92. Dr. Speirs passed
away at Central Park Lodge in Toronto, where he'd been staying since the beginning of the
summer.
""I think he'd want to be remembered for his dedication to the environment."" niece Rosemary
Speirs said yesterday, noting he had long supported the Rouge Valley, Oak Ridges Moraine.
Altona Forest and Thickson Woods in Whitby, among others She added the visit from
Ms. Clarkson was certainly a highlight.
""It was a great thrill."" she said. ""He may have felt it honoured his life. I think it was a
wonderful high for him.""
A Pickering resident for more than 50 years. Dr. Speirs wore many hats in his long career,
including those of author, teacher, researcher, naturalist and bird watcher. He co-founded the
Pickering Naturalists in 1977 published the two-volume work 'Birds of Ontario' in 1985 and in
1995 donated a 12-hectare piece of his property in the Altona Forest, the Dr. J. Murray Speirs
Ecological Reserve, which continues to be a site for scientific monitoring and study.
Linking most of his pursuits was a love of birds Dr. Speirs once said.
""There's nothing more alive than a bird."" and the creatures held his fascination since he was a
six-year-old boy in Toronto, watching a ruby-crowned kinglet in his parents' back-yard.
In 1931, at the age of 22. he joined the Wilson Ornithological Society, the first of many such
groups with which he would become involved. Dr. Speirs received his doctorate at the University
of Illinois in 1946 with his thesis, 'Local and migratory movements of the American robin in
eastern Northern America . In addition, he was a University of Toronto faculty member for
almost 30 years.
Dr. Speirs is survived by Ms. Speirs. his step-daughter Iris Weir. nephews Gordon and
David Speirs his great-nephew John Murray Deverell and grandchildren Adele Khoenke
Margaret Wilson, Phillip Weir and Miles Hearn.
A funeral service is being held Saturday. Sept. 8 at 9 a.m. at McEachnie Funeral Home.
28 Old Kingston Rd., in Pickering Village. Visitation is Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.
Members of the public are welcome to pay their respects, and in lieu of flowers, the family asks
that a donation be made to the Pickering Naturalists.
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