- George Mara
George Edward Mara, C.M. (
December 12 1921 –August 30 2006 ) was a Canadian businessman and Winter Olympics athlete.Born in
Toronto ,Ontario , he was educated atUpper Canada College and played for theToronto Marlboros junior hockey team. After declining an offer from theDetroit Red Wings duringWorld War II , he instead served as aLieutenant in theRoyal Canadian Navy . After the war, he played for theRoyal Canadian Air Force Flyers in the1948 Winter Olympics and was captain of the gold medal team.He also joined the family business, William Mara Company, an importer of wines and spirits. He sold the company in the early 1970s and joined Jannock Corporation where he was vice-chairman.
He was one of the founders and chairman of the Olympic Trust of Canada, the fundraising arm of the Canadian Olympic Association (now the Canadian Olympic Committee), which raised millions of dollars to help support Canadian athletes.
From 1957 to 1969, he was a Director of
Maple Leaf Gardens and briefly became President in 1969.In 1976, he was made a Member of the
Order of Canada "for his tireless efforts in raising funds to support Canadian Olympic athletes competing in Munich and Montreal." [http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=1092] In 1993, he was inducted intoCanada's Sports Hall of Fame .He died in 2006 while undergoing
heart surgery .References
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