Toronto mourns passing of Murray Frum

One of Toronto's most respected and influential businessmen and philanthropists has died —although for many in Canada Murray Frum will be better remembered for the woman he married in 1957.

Murray Frum died on Monday.  He was 81 years old.

The cause, according to his son David, was mestatic lung cancer, although Murray never smoked.

In a tribute published on the website the Daily Beast, David Frum writes, "My late mother was only 19 when my father asked her to marry him, young even by the standards of the 1950s. They’d known each other only a very few months. She answered him, 'If you’re sure, I’m sure.'"

The 19-year-old Murray married became Barbara Frum who was a journalist and broadcaster for more than 20 years at the CBC.

Barbara Frum hosted the groundbreaking programs As It Happens and later The Journal until her death in 1992. 

Their daughter Linda and son David would both become influential journalists in their own right.

David Frum said his father was "[b]orn in poverty" but "rose to great success in business. To the country that had given refuge to his parents, my father returned public service upon public service."

Murray Frum was a dentist who later became a Toronto real-estate developer.  He also served as a trustee of the Art Gallery of Ontario and chairman of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. 

He was remarried to Nancy Lockhart in 1994.

Many in Toronto have expressed their sadness at his death.

Toronto Coun. Karen Stintz said in a tweet she was "very sorry to hear of the passing of a great Torontonian." 

Details of a public memorial service will be released at a later date.