Murdock (Dick) Paul Hynes

Murdock (Dick) Paul Hynes passed peacefully at home on August 9, 2021 at the age of 81 after a lengthy illness. In his final weeks, he was surrounded by the family that loved him fiercely and will miss him dearly.

Born on Woods Island, Newfoundland on September 20, 1939, Dick was the eighth of 14 brothers and sisters. He lived in Newfoundland until his early twenties, when he moved to Toronto with his mother and several of his siblings. Newfoundland always held his heart and over the years he entertained his family and friends with the numerous stories of his life on The Rock; they were often repeated but always met with the same laughter as if hearing the story for the first time.

He and his love, Anna, were married in 1975 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario where they lived until moving to Thunder Bay in 1988. Dick’s greatest pride and joy were the three daughters he and Anna raised – Andrea, Stephanie and Jennifer. His sense of humor, love of storytelling and his ability to start up a conversation with complete strangers like they were lifelong friends will live on through his daughters.

A Newfoundlander to his soul, in his younger years he sailed the Great Lakes working various jobs. After getting married, he joined United Van Lines as a truck driver; a job that took him to all corners of Canada, building his arsenal of stories about the people he met and the places he saw.

An avid card player, Dick loved an evening of playing cribbage with his siblings, nieces or nephews. During a family trip to Newfoundland in 2019, he taught his sons-in-law, Thomas and Elias, how to play and proudly won every single game. He would also never turn down a game of Go Fish with his grandsons, Valentino and Cristiano. If it wasn’t cards, he was cheering on the Montreal Canadiens or puttering around in his garden.

Dick is survived by Anna, his wife of 46 years, his daughters Andrea (Elias Iatrou), Stephanie and Jennifer (Thomas Marcon); his grandsons Valentino, Cristiano and Aris; his siblings, Agnes, Patrick, Veronica, Alice and Archie; his sister-in-law, Bruna; brother-in-law, Eric and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father, John Joseph, in 1958; his mother, Eleanor, in 1994 and his siblings Mary Alice, Michael, Lucy, Henry, Thomas, Beatrice, John and Adeline.

The family would like to thank the team of healthcare providers at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre-Cancer Care and Paramed for their care of Dick over the last several years.

A private family interment will take place at a later date in Newfoundland. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Dick’s memory to the Northern Cancer Fund.