Sad times in the MTL.

Most of you Toronto types don't know Ernie Butler but in Montreal he was the king of comedy.
He ran a club there for years and helped launch and sustain many a young comic's career.
Ask any of the radio people, they all knew Ernie.

I met him while I worked there and liked him right away. He knew my wife before I did and our first date (Randee and I, not me and Ernie) was at his comedy club.
He was even at our wedding.
I just found out last night he died suddenly last week and it was sad news indeed. We hadn't kept in close touch these last few years, but whenever I ran into him he was always good for a laugh.
A hale fellow well met, or whatever that quote is.
This is from his obit.

Over five hundred friends, family and colleagues packed St. Monica's Church in NDG today for the funeral of the 58-year-old comedy impresario who died last week of stomach cancer.
Ernie's younger brothers Michael and John eulogized their sibling as a generous and devoted family man; a big brother who gave John, a Bobby Orr fan, his only ticket to a playoff game between the Bruins and the Canadiens.
"He has no idea that it was one of the greatest evenings of my life and it was all because of Ernie."
In his homily, Father John Walsh says Ernie put others in the spotlight instead of turning it on himself, giving comics their big break at his comedy club.
"Ernie never said he was the best stand-up comic because his real strength, and he knew it, was that he was a great master of ceremonies."
Walsh says Ernie helped anybody who felt that life was cruel to them or that they were rejected by society.
"Ernie turned cruelty into healing through laughter."
He leaves his wife Marie and his children Silver, Ryan and Shannon.