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Thomas Murtha
July 11, 1938 - September 10, 2015
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<div itemprop="description">THOMAS L. MURTHA At his home in the early hours of Thursday, September 10, 2015 on his 49th wedding anniversary, Thomas L. Murtha, 77. Son of the late Leo and Antoinette Murtha. He is survived by his beloved wife of 49 years, Lynda (Moore) and daughters Julie Murtha (Jim Palmateer) of Toronto, Christy Murtha of Toronto and Leigh Vyn (David) of Ancaster, as well as GrampaT to his cherished grandchildren Abby and Joshua Vyn. Tom is also survived by his sister Margaret Blance of Cape Cod and was predeceased by his brother Joseph. <br /> <br />Born in Woodstock, ON, in 1938, he graduated from Queen's University with his BComm in 1963 and completed his MBA at Queen's in 1968. Upon graduation, he joined Colgate-Palmolive as a Product Manager and progressed through to Director of Marketing. In 1980, he was named Vice President of Marketing for the Toronto Star, responsible for advertising, circulation, marketing, communications and research. At that time he was also named to the Board of Directors of the Newspaper Marketing Bureau and Metrospan Printing and Publishing, then a subsidiary of The Star. Later in his career he was named Vice President of Corporate Newspaper Development for Torstar Corporation, publisher of The Star and owner of Metroland Printing, among other corporate groups. He retired from that role in 1995. In retirement, Tom and Lynda enjoyed falls and winters in Florida, spent a number of years at their century-old farmhouse north of Port Hope and later retired to condo life overlooking Lake Ontario in Toronto's west end. <br /> <br />Tom had eclectic passions: he maintained a daily watch over the TSX (and as his family's stock market advisor); continued a deep interest in the newspaper industry through his long associations; was a passionate Toronto Blue Jays fan; had a love/hate relationship with the Leafs and spent hours reading about the mafia, their crimes and plays for power. And, of course, he held a deep devotion to Seinfeld. <br /> <br />Lynda and the family would like to thank some very special people. The medical teams lead by Drs. Mark Bernstein, Shaf Keshavjee and Peter Ferguson who helped Tom defy all the odds; Maureen Daniels and Cheryl Kanter at the Pencer Brain Tumor Centre for all their support and advice. His palliative care team, Dr. Christa Jeney, Karen Snyder, RN and Eugenia, RN, who, along with Ruth Vlainic from the Dorothy Ley Hospice, helped Tom spend his last days at home with dignity, comfort and peace. <br /> <br />And we would like to publicly say a very special thank you to John Finneran. John spent a great deal of time with Tom over the last many months. Between them they kept Tim Hortons in business, traded secrets on stock market management, presided over the world economy, politics of the land and world peace. During this time, Tom and John also traded sports knowledge. Tom was new to soccer, but John is an avid fan and so many afternoons were spent watching either baseball or soccer. Thank you John for all the kindness you showed to Tom and Lynda. <br /> <br />A private Funeral Mass will be held in Toronto followed by interment in Woodstock, ON, on Tuesday, September 15th. A celebration of Tom's life for family and friends will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 19th at TURNER &amp; PORTER - PEEL CHAPEL, 2180 Hurontario Street, Mississauga, 905-279-7663. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to The Gerry &amp; Nancy Pencer Brain Trust at Princess Margaret Hospital (pencerbraintrust.com), 416-923-2999.</div>