Gussie Clinton, who served as mayor of Souris from 1994 to 2000, died Tuesday morning at the town’s hospital.
Clinton was 69 years old and had been battling cancer.
He was remembered fondly by his cousin, Souris-Elmira MLA Colin Lavie, during Tuesday’s opening of the P.E.I. legislature.
Lavie described Clinton as a great friend.
“If anybody knew Gussie, Gussie always liked a good laugh and a loud laugh. A great guy he was,” said Lavie. “To Barb, his wife, my condolences go out, and he is definitely going to be missed in the community.”
Apart from serving as the town’s mayor, Clinton was known for his involvement in a number of sports.
Although he participated in football, hockey and later golf, Clinton’s biggest passion was baseball where he often played shortstop.
Mike McCormack was one of Clinton’s many teammates throughout the years.
McCormack described Clinton as an excellent ball player and community-minded individual.
“Gussie had done an awful lot of volunteer work for the kids in Souris, and he was devoted to his family, too. He was a family man,” said McCormack. “We had a lot of laughs together.”
Charlottetown Coun. Mitch Tweel knew Clinton as a fellow board member of the P.E.I. Federation of Municipalities, as well as through the P.E.I. Tackle Football League.
Tweel said Clinton’s success was from being a grassroots oriented individual.
“He was a very likeable individual and very well respected. He always put Souris first. I admire him and respected him for that,” he said. “He loved his community and there was no bigger champion for Eastern Kings than Gussie Clinton.”
Clinton had a career with Canada Post until his retirement in 2005. He was also a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus.
Keeping true to his passion for sports, memorial donations for Clinton can be made to Souris Regional Athletics.
