Michael Nicholas Mercury

Michael Nicholas Mercury passed away peacefully at the age of 85 on April 10, 2013 at Seven Oaks Hospital after a brief illness.

He is survived by his son Nicholas (Nico) Mercury, his brother Leon Mercury (Margaret) of Victoria, BC, niece Colleen Mercury of Toronto, and many cousins in Canada, the United States, and Greece who will dearly miss him. He was predeceased by his parents Nicholas and Helen Mercury.

Michael was born in Rochester, New York on August 15, 1927. In 1936 his family moved to Toronto, where he went to Davisville School. In August 1941, the family moved to Winnipeg where he attended Mulvey School and Gordon Bell High School.

Upon graduation he enrolled in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Manitoba and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952.

After University, Michael worked and helped manage Grammas, the family fruit, flower and candy business situated on Portage Avenue at Vaughan Street. Later, Michael and his partner Gus Voulgaris established and operated the Jolly Mug restaurant located on Lakeview Blvd in St. Vital. Michael retired from the restaurant business after it was sold in 1978. During his retirement years he did part-time work for James Richardson & Sons. He also served as a member of the Board of Revision of the City of Winnipeg.

Michael was a man of letters. He was a voracious reader and had an incredible ability to retain all that he had read and which he would happily share with his friends and relatives. Almost every day of his retirement he would visit the Winnipeg Public Library reading on his favourite subjects, history and politics.

Michael will best be remembered for his unparalleled love and appreciation for the arts. An exceptionally talented artist, his greatest hobby was painting portraits in the impressionist style of his favourite artists, Amedeo Modigliani, Vincent Van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso. He loved their works so much that he was able to reproduce them so well that to the untrained eye, it would be difficult to distinguish the original painting from that of his own. Although too humble to share his works with others, he leaves behind as his legacy, dozens and dozens of his original paintings for the enjoyment of those who loved him.

Michael was also an avid cartoonist who, for a short period of time, drew cartoons for the Country Guide Magazine of Winnipeg.

Always a great source of entertainment, Michael would see humour in almost everything and would keep everyone around him laughing in stitches with his vivid characterisation of people and places, whether through the medium of the cartoon or the spoken word.

Michael was extremely warm, hospitable and kind, and as a result, he was loved by everyone. Often he would have junior members of the family and friends over to his home where he would prepare great food and drink, all accompanied with stimulating conversation.

Michael had been a longstanding member of the Winnipeg chapter of the Fraternal Order of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), where he served as Secretary for many years.

Michael was also a longtime member of the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, and the Greek Community of Winnipeg.

Prayers will be held at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 2255 Shaftsbury Blvd in Tuxedo on Sunday April 14, 2013 commencing at 7:00 pm. Funeral services will be held at the Church on the following day, Monday, April 15, 2013 at 11:00 am with the Reverend Father Theodore Paraskevopoulos officiating. Interment to follow at Brookside Cemetery.

May his memory be eternal.