Long-serving former North Bay city councillor has died

A former North Bay councillor has died Long time former North Bay city councillor & downtown arts and crafts store owner George Maroosis has passed away at the age of 77.

CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca has confirmed that former North Bay city councillor George Maroosis has died at the age of 77 over the weekend.

Maroosis was often referred to by his nickname ‘The Wrench.’

He was first elected to city council in 1982 and served 24 consecutive years before deciding to step away in 2006. Maroosis then decided to run again in 2010 and served another eight years before losing his bid for re-election in 2018.

When former city councillor Mike Anthony passed away in 2020 during his time in office, Maroosis agreed to fill the vacant seat.

He also owned a downtown arts and crafts store called The K Brothers Maroosis Art Centre.

In November 2019, city council voted to recognize Maroosis’ service with the city’s first piece of public art.

The former councillor championed the idea of the city installing and maintaining a yellow community sharps bin – during the 2020 budget deliberations a motion to reallocate $11,000 to do so was unanimously supported by city council.

“We have lost a great ambassador for the City of North Bay,” said current city councillor Tanya Vrebosch, in a statement to CTV News.

“He served the citizens for over 30 years.”

Vrebosch reflected on Maroosis’ “open door policy” and how he would often welcome anyone into his art store.

“George never held a grudge. We could disagree and we would just move on,” the statement reads.

“Whether you agreed with his politics or not, he was a good man with a big heart and did a lot for our community.”

Maroosis also ran as a Liberal candidate twice in provincial politics, losing to former conservative premier Mike Harris in 1999 and narrowly losing to future city mayor Al McDonald in a by-election in 2002.

According to his social media page, Maroosis was a little over a month away from celebrating his 78th birthday.