Paul Morris, the voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs inside Maple Leaf Gardens for nearly four decades, has passed away.
Morris died peacefully last Thursday at age 86 at Lakeridge Health Oshawa, according to the obituary published by the Mount Lawn Home and Cemetery in Whitby, Ont.
The Toronto native spent his entire working career at Maple Leaf Gardens, where he was in the sound department. He also was the team’s PA announcer during games for 38 years.
Morris’s distinct voice was regularly imitated during his long tenure, which included the Leafs’ most recent Stanley Cup in 1967 and memorable runs to the conference finals by Doug Gilmour-led teams in 1993 and ’94.
The Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby reports Morris was one of only four men to serve as PA announcer for the Leafs during the team’s history.
He was replaced by Andy Frost when the Leafs moved to the then-Air Canada Centre in 1999.
Hornby writes Morris worked more than 1,500 consecutive games between 1961 and ’99.
Morris’s father, Doug, was the first building supervisor for the Gardens in 1931 and later brought his son aboard.
Over the years, Paul Morris became a recognizable figure in southern Ontario.
“I’m always more embarrassed about that than anything else. (Near his retirement date) I still had a cottage in Muskoka and one day I went out with a friend to an open market. People were coming up to me saying: ‘We’re going to miss you,'” Morris once told Hornby. “My friend, whom I’d known 60 years, said: ‘I keep forgetting you’re famous. To me, you’re just Paul.'”
Morris is survived by his wife, Marion.
A celebration of his life will be held at a later date.