Skip to the content 
It is with great sadness to announce the death of Maurice Vincent O’Flynn, born in Cardiff, Wales on June 12, 1938. Maurice died peacefully at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, on November the 5th surrounded by his loving family and friends. He left behind his dearest family, Ryan, Pamela, Stephen, Natalie, Ellen and Claire. Maurice will join his deceased family; mother Iris, sister Paula, brother Bernard, and nephew Andrew, in Rest Bay Beach in PorthCawl, Wales, where they spent many wonderful summers.
Maurice moved to Canada in 1974, he landed in Montreal and took a long train ride to Calgary Alberta, and finally settled in Edmonton, Alberta, where had his son Ryan. He worked hard and as an unofficial ambassador but also played hard; enjoying comradery, witty banter, and fine Canadian Rye’s. Maurice never shied away from the straight talk. He always spoke his mind, which is a rare quality these days and often resulted in long discussions and unfortunately, occasionally also lost friends as often Maurice’s openness and frankness was not always well received. But never the less, he always stayed true to himself and his values.
Maurice was a believer in dreams to the extent that they give promise to a tangible outcome. His passion in the culinary scene helped to bring light to a new era in the city of Edmonton which was also recognized internationally. He was a founding member and Executive Director of the Alberta Culinary Arts Foundation from 1983-1993, leading the Canadian Culinary Olympic National team to win gold at the 1992 Olympics in Frankfurt, as well as receiving many other accolades. His son, Ryan shares the same passion in the culinary world sharing the philosophy “silver never suited us” and has led Ryan to win the prestigious Canadian National Championships in 2015.
I was lucky enough to meet Maurice in 2001 when I moved to Canada and we shared many fine moments together with our mutual friends. His passion was still going strong and we had many great discussions about Culinary teams from the past, the present and also often wondered where the scene is heading towards too. Maurice went digital later on and launched the champchefs achieves online – his aim was to collect as many stories & culinary teams from around the world and make them accessible in place . A project for which he was honored with a award by the world chefs association in 2012. Maurice became a great mentor of mine who tought me many things – most importantly that without passion, beliefs and dreams no life is worth living. Maurice was at times larger than life – but he always had his heart in the right place and more than anything embraced the beauty of the moment.
Although we are saddened by his death, we want to celebrate and I would truly appreciate if you could share some stories of your interaction with Maurice so I can combine them and pass them on his family. I can be reached at [email protected] and would greatly appreciate your support. More details onn the Champchefs website.
