Obituary: Charles Bury, former editor of the Sherbrooke Record

Charles Bury, the former editor of the Sherbrooke Record, had been suffering from stage-four liver cancer before he passed away. (Photo from Facebook)

Colourful and pioneering news editor Charles Bury, who long ran the Sherbrooke Record and later became an advocate for medicinal marijuana, has passed away.

Bury worked at the Townships Sun before joining the Sherbrooke Record, a local paper he ran for more than 15 years before stepping aside.

He had been suffering from stage-four liver cancer.

Longtime CBC journalist Bernard St-Laurent, who worked alongside Bury for many years in Sherbrooke, was one of many paying tribute to Bury's legacy Sunday.

"Charlie Bury was a kindhearted man who was genuinely interested in people and cared about what was happening to them. He was driven by an urge to try to make things right."

In January Bury won the right to use vaporized medical marijuana in his hospital room while waiting to be transferred to a palliative care facility in Sherbrooke. He was allowed to continue using marijuana once he was settled in at the Maison Aube Lumiere.

"His campaign to allow patients who are dying in hospital to have access to medically prescribed marijuana was the last of his many battles," said St-Laurent.

Bury was a “huge influence on many young journalists" according to one former colleague at the Record.

"He was always very caring and fun to work with and did a lot to guide us on the right path,” said Montreal Gazette journalist Rene Bruemmer. “He was a hugely funny man, well-known well-liked by political figures and others as well.”

Former Premier Jean Charest and leader of the federal opposition MP Thomas Mulcair were both in contact with Bury during his time in hospital.

Bury covered hundreds of news stories in the Eastern Townships over the years, including the flash floods of 1982, the accidental shooting of two carpet layers by police near Sherbrooke and the political rise of Jean Charest.

His knowledge of the issues affecting the Townships made him an oft-cited source in the media.

He also worked as a director of the Canadian Association of Journalists for 30 years and was chairman of that organization for about 20 years.

Bury was the founding editor of the Quebec Heritage News, a quarterly magazine devoted to exploring the history of Quebec’s English-speaking communities.

He was a staunch defender of the rights of Anglophones, participating in protests against the Parti Quebecois and Bill 101 in the late 1970s.

Visitation for Charles Bury will be Feb. 14, 2014 at the Cass Funeral Home in Lennoxville. A memorial service will be held Feb. 15 at the Burrough's Falls Hall in Ayer's Cliff, starting at 1 p.m.