CORNWALL, Ontario – One of the strong hearts of the Cornwall community has passed away.
Guy Briere passed away on Monday, September 26 at the age of 70 of lung cancer.
His children, Nick and Lindsay, remember him as a fun and loving father.
“Anyone who knew him, knew he never had a problem being social,” said his daughter Lindsay.
“He was the type of fella that when he walked into a room and five minutes later, everyone knew him,” said his wife Sue.
“I have about five or six friends who thought of him as a second father, and that just tells you a lot about the kind of guy he was,” said Nick.
Paige was one such case, who became an adopted daughter to Guy.
Wherever he went, Guy connected with people, a trait that suited his love of travel.
He had been to every continent except Antartica, but had a special love for Barbados, visiting the island over 60 times.
“People who hadn’t even met him in Barbados, knew the legend,” said Nick.
Guy began to pursue his love of travel while working for his father’s company here in Cornwall, Briere-Gosling Travel.
After five years in the Canadian Air Force, he worked at the company started by his father for 28 years. Always the hard worker and entrepreneur, he soon moved on to other ventures.
Some might remember Par-T Golf, and indoor golf range started by Guy on Balmoral Avenue here in Cornwall.
Later he would pursue his interest and love of food by working for Rockport Boat Lines and managing their restaurant.
When the opportunity came, he and his business partner, Julie Amyot, formed B & A Food Services and managed the restaurants at Upper Canada Village, including the Harvest Barn and Willard’s Hotel. They also provided the food services for other events taking place at Uper Canada Village such as Pumpkinferno.
Guy was a man who enjoyed the outdoors. In his spare time, he would often enjoying fishing trips to his cabin near Fort-Coulogne, Quebec, where he could escape civilization.
In honour of his love of travel and his love of Barbados, his family will be spreading some of his ashes there.
“We have a lot of friends in Barbados who introduced us to so many people,” said his wife Sue. “Everywhere he went though, he had friends galore.”
Over a hundred people expressed their sadness at his passing on social media.
“My condolences for your loss Lindsay, your father was a fun person to be around and had a joy of life that he would spread to everyone around him,” wrote one James Matheson.
His daughter Lindsay said that the support her father was being shown was a testament to the type of man he was.
“He didn’t judge people, and treated them all equally,” she said. “He didn’t come from much an worked his way up.”
“He was a hard worker and had a big heart,” Sue added.
A memorial service will be held for Guy Briere on Wednesday, October 5.
