Roderick Murray 'Mur' Pearson

September 17, 1956 - August 19, 2020
Roderick Murray (Mur) Pearson passed away on August 19, 2020 at the age of 63 years while fly fishing at one of his favourite places, Fry Creek near Kootenay Lake. He was born on September 17, 1956 in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
He was pre-deceased by his parents Elsie in 2008 and Frank in 2018. He is survived by his two siblings Jim and Nona and their families: Jim (Donna De Fraine) Pearson with son Ryan, and daughters MaryEllen (Andrew) Machuk with Mitchell and twins Heidi and Dominic, Melissa Pearson (Jon Ng) with Violet and Nathan, and Paula (Joe) Watkins with twins Philip and Pearson, and Nona (Doug) Flemming with Carly and Julie.
He graduated from Grade 12 at Hapnot Collegiate before moving to Toronto with his parents in 1974 and starting to look for his purpose in life. He spent time in Ottawa, Cominco in Trail, T&H Sawmill and the golf course in Kaslo, University of Victoria and a golf course in Victoria, and Pitt River near Vancouver.
He was not a big city person and he finally found his sweet spot outdoors with a 31 year career as the Custodian for the Meadow Creek spawning channel north of Kootenay Lake. Internationally, with his fluent Spanish he spent months of some winters playing baseball and teaching English in Costa Rica and Panama. He also worked construction in the Kaslo area for a number of winters.
Mur was devoted to sports as an athlete and coach for most of his life. He played on some Flin Flon league champion hockey teams when he was quite young and he wished he had been named Brooks after his baseball idol, Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles.
He was an extreme participant in baseball and hockey in Kaslo and also really enjoyed fly fishing. During the trip to Panama, he knocked on Chico Salmon's door to talk about Chico's career as an Oriole during their World Series years.
His family knew he had many friends in Kaslo but the expressions of appreciation for his character and his participation in the Kaslo community have been overwhelming. Naming the Murray Pearson Ball Park is an honour to his memory and an honour for his family.
He did his part for the environment by not owning a car for probably 40 years and although he had a casual awareness of technology, he never owned a phone or computer. He was always available for his friends and we would especially like to thank Lorna, Maggie, John, Karma and Glen for all their help at this time.
Friends and relatives are invited to a Celebration of Life to be held for Murray in Kaslo on Saturday, September 26, 2020. Because of COVID-19 restrictions limiting groups to 50 people, the actual ceremony is planned to be held at the Murray Pearson Ball Park and it will be live-streamed to the internet and to other venues in Kaslo. Arrangements are still being made so please watch for details.
If friends so desire, memorial donations may be made to the Kaslo & District Arena Association https://kasloarena.ca/ and the Kaslo & District Public Library https://kaslo.bc.libraries.coop/. Expressions of sympathy can be forwarded to the family at the Thompson Funeral Service website at https://www.thompsonfs.ca/obituary/roderick-pearson/

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