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Russell Hawkins died in a plane crash on Thursday afternoon in Puslinch.
GUELPH — Always with a smile on his face, Russell Hawkins loved life and lived passionately, says Carlo Mann.
“He was the type of guy that I could call him any time of the day or night and he would talk to me,” he said.
Having developed a close friendship with Hawkins over the past few years, Mann said he had nothing but good things to say about the 47-year-old Guelph man who died on Thursday afternoon when his plane crashed into the woods in Puslinch.
“He was a gentleman and a classy guy,” Mann said. “You would go to his home and he would always want to get you the best wine ever: Amarone,” his favourite.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, rescue crews scrambled to reach the Cessna 172 single-engine plane that crashed at the southeast corner of Puslinch Lake. Hawkins died at the scene and another man who was also on board the aircraft was taken to Cambridge Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The other man remains in hospital. Transportation Safety Board investigators wish to interview him but were not able to Friday.
Mann describes his friend as a self-starter, an entrepreneur who let his passions drive him forward in everything he did. In his 20s, he said, Hawkins went to Las Vegas to study the craps and poker tables at casinos. Using his experience south of the border, Hawkins founded MajorWager.com in 2000, which has become a popular hub for talk about sports and gambling online.
One of the forums on the website announces the news of Hawkins’ death and several people have left their condolences. A member with the online name The Actuary, said “RIP Russ. We may not have seen eye to eye, but your business here certainly changed my life for the better.”
Mann said Hawkins had a passion for flying and only recently attained his pilot’s licence. According to Transport Canada’s Aviation Database, Hawkins became registered as an owner of the small aircraft in February, earlier this year.
Linda Craig, the senior development officer for The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital, said the thing she will remember most about Russell Hawkins is his smile and his embrace of people.
Although she just met him for the first time earlier this year, she said he made an impact. In a phone interview on Friday, Craig was noticeably choked-up over Hawkins’ death, and said everyone at the foundation was feeling the same way.
She said earlier that year, Hawkins approached the hospital looking to hold a fundraiser to raise money for the foundation. Through multiple meetings and planning sessions, the Burgers, Bands and Balls fundraising event was put together and then held at his home on Victoria Road in June. The event included a catered meal of gourmet burgers and sushi, live music and a closest-to-the-pin competition on one of the holes on Victoria Park Valley Golf Course.
Karen Cerniuk, Hawkins’ next-door neighbour, said she became a good friend of his over the five years he’s lived beside her.
“He’s acquired a lot, he’s accomplished a lot,” she said. “He’s a multi-millionaire and he does not brag about it at all.”
Cerniuk said whenever Hawkins was plowing his driveway, he would also plow hers – just because, “that’s the kind of man he was.
“Now matter what, he helps everybody. He’s just an extremely generous, kind person,” she said.
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