Mario Francisco Mata Prado

1924-2014

Air Force Veteran, Broadcaster, International Civil Servant and Diplomat , after a long illness Mario Francisco Mata passed away peacefully at his home in Montreal, on September 24th 2014 in his 90th year with his loving wife Celestina Leticia Claverie and family at his side. Mario was born in Havana, Cuba. During the Second World War, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in Toronto as a volunteer. He was Honorably Discharged at the end of the war. In Montreal, he first joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasting Spanish programming, , and then joined the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in its AIS Maps and Charts Unit . Later he was appointed Chief of the Editorial Unit of ICAO. Married to Leticia, a Guatemalan, he acquired Guatemalan citizenship. In 1979, after 27 years at ICAO, he took early retirement and went, together with Leticia, to live in Guatemala where he was the Advisor on all affairs related to ICAO in the “ Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil”. In 1983, they returned to Montreal and he represented Guatemala as an Alternate Delegate to the Council of ICAO for Central America and Panama for the period of 1983-1986. In 2003, they moved permanently to Montreal to be closer to their family where he lived a vibrant life providing warmth and wise counsel to the younger generation. Mario will be missed by his beloved partner and wife Celestina Leticia Claverie, his son Carlos Enrique Garin (Louise Dorion), his grandchildren Miguel Garin (Muriel Rajaonina), James Garin and Julie Garin Henderson, his great grandchildren Lucas Francisco Garin, Marielle and Melanie Henderson, his nephews Jorge and Francisco Mata Arazosa, his god daughters Maria del Carmen (Don Pollock) and Beatriz Csery (Albert Blue), his Guatemala and United States nieces and nephews as well as his many friends from Montreal, Guatemala and the International community. The family will receive condolences at the CENTRE FUNÉRAIRE CÔTE-DES-NEIGES, 4525 CHEMIN DE LA CÔTE-DES-NEIGES, MONTREAL, H3V 1E7, on Sunday, September 28, 2014 from 2 to 5pm and from 7 to 9pm as well as on Monday, September 29, 2014 from 1 to 3pm. A funeral service will follow at 3pm on Monday in the chapel of the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Mario’s memory may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society.