John Andrew Mara (1840-1920)

DECEASED BRETHREN

John Andrew Mara (1840-1920) was a member of Vancouver & Quadra Lodge No. 2 in Victoria.

Here is his February 1920 obituary in Victoria’s Daily Colonist newspaper:

“PROMINENT PIONEER DIES AT MIDNIGHT

Mr, John Andrew Mara Succumbs in his Eightieth Year — From Pneumonia, Following Long Illness

One of the most prominent citizens of Victoria for many years and a pioneer of British Columbia in the truest sense of the word passed away at half past eleven o’clock last night in the person of Mr. John Andrew Mara. Mr. Mara had been in falling health for the past year, but while resigning his direct personal association Ion with some of the activities in which he was most keenly interested he had not lost the desire to co-operate In their work. This was notably true In connection with the Jubilee Hospital Board. on which he had held the position of honorary treasurer for many years, and from which he only resigned recently. He WAS taken seriously ill last Thursday, and the ultimate cause of death was pneumonia. He became unconscious yesterday afternoon at 1:30, and from that time until his death shortly before midnight remained in this state, so that he passed out without pain. The remains still repose at the family home, 750 Pemberton Road, where he was cared for during the whole of his long illness. Miss Nellie Mara, his daughter, and Mr. Lytton Mara, the only son, who returned last June after service In the Imperial Navy, were with their father at the last.

An Active Career

Few of the Western pioneers of Canada could point to a more active record than Mr. J. A. Mara. Born in Toronto on July 21, 1840, the son of John and Annie Mara, he was edu¬cated in his native town before he decided-—still a very young man–to turn West. Most of the Journey to British Columbia he accomplished on foot. In the ‘fifties when transporta¬tion of other kind was not easily procurable and not consistently useful In any event where land and river had to be negotiated. He settled in the Kamloops district In the early days, and his forceful personality and abundant energy soon made Itself felt in politics and the general affairs of the community. He was elected mem- (Continued on page 15)

(Continued from page 1) ber of the Legislative Assembly in 1871. and was returned continuously for the next fifteen years to the House in which he filled the office of Speaker from 1882 to 1886.

Ever since he same to Victoria to make his home he identified himself with the hospital interests as well as with many other organisations that had to do with the welfare and progress areas of the community. He was an active force In the Victoria Anti- Tuberculosis Society for quite a time, and was elected president of the Victoria Board of Trade in 1906, until quite recently being one of the most regular attendants at the meetings of this latter organisation. His interest In mining matters dated back to the •sixties, when the rich strikes were made In the Cariboo district, and his name figured on the list of directors of more than one mining company. In fact It is only during the past year that failing health had forced him to resign his active participation In the meetings of the various bodies to which he belonged, and it was a source of very genuine regret to the Jubilee Hospital Board that they had to lose his sound counsel through his withdrawal just within the last six or eight months.
His wife, whom he married In 1882, predeceased him some years ago. She was a sister of the Hon. G. H. Barnard. M.P.. and of the former Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Frank Barnard.”

(Source: Colonist, 12 February 1920, pages 1, 15)

John Andrew Mara is buried in Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, B.C.

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