Man who lit up community dies after falling from roof
One winter about 15 years ago, Marianne Meed Ward was driving her three young children through the streets of Burlington, Ont., in an effort to lull them to sleep.
As she approached the 3000-block of Spruce Avenue, traffic slowed to a crawl. Before them was the most “spectacular sight.”
“The kids’ jaws dropped. If I hadn’t been driving I’d love to have captured it on film,” she said.
What they had stumbled upon was the elaborate Christmas light display put on each year at the home of Douglas Musson — a display so brilliant not only for its sheer wattage but also for its intricate wire-framed decorations.
On Wednesday, Meed Ward joined throngs of local residents in mourning the death of Musson, 82, two days earlier. According to his son, Musson fell from his roof while tending to the display.
News of Musson’s death drew an immediate outpouring of well-wishes, as well as an online campaign to raise funds for his family and to keep the light display going.
Scott Musson told the National Post his family was overwhelmed by the community support. “We cannot believe it,” he said. “It is taking the sting off of things.”
Co- founder of Trenton, Ont.- based Quinte Plastics, the maker of biodegradable litter bags for transit vehicles, Douglas Musson was described by family and friends as generous, deeply committed to his Mormon faith, and an easy conversationalist.
“It sounds cliché. But if you met him, you’d think he’d known you your whole life. He was easy with people … like a long- lost friend,” said neighbour Peter McGuigan.
Despite some bad knees, Musson was still spry for his age, family and friends said, recently driving all the way to Atlanta for a trade show. Just days before his death, he volunteered to clear the snow off his neighbour’s driveway.
The fatal fall occurred Monday when he climbed a ladder to try to figure out what was causing water to drip from the roof onto the pavement below. The ladder fell. Musson died in hospital.
Musson could often be found using power tools in his garage, McGuigan said. A couple years ago, he completely refurbished an old shed in the backyard.
“I think if I was that age, I’d go to Canadian Tire and get a new one,” he chuckled.
Before moving in fi ve years ago, McGuigan said his realtor warned him about the eccentric light display put on by his neighbour each Christmas.
“The first time you see it, it’s pretty dazzling. My kids were taken by it,” he said.
The tradition started in the late 1970s with a few strings of lights. Then some wire- framed reindeer were added, Scott Musson wrote on the family’s webpage.
“When we noticed that people would stop and look at the lights we realized that we weren’t the only ones who enjoyed Christmas lights. That gave us the spark to get things really going,” he wrote.
Animated characters followed, including a dragon wagging its tail, soldiers saluting, and a melting snowman. It became known as Burlington’s “Griswold house,” after the brightly lit home in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Following the death of one of Musson’s other sons, Cameron, in an accident, the family decided to add an animated Harley motorcycle to the display as a tribute.
“Why do we go to all the work of putting up these lights? We do it as a celebration of Christmas. We do it to give something back to our community. We do it to bring smiles on people’s faces,” wrote Scott Musson, who said he debated whether to turn the lights on after the death but decided it would be what his father wanted.
Close family friend Dan Fraser counts himself among those who never tired of seeing the display. “You can stand there for an hour and see something you haven’t seen. It’s so massive,” he said. “It’s just awe- inspiring. As you drive down the street, you can see the illumination of the decorations before you see the decorations.”
One local resident wrote on an online tribute page Wednesday. “We don’t celebrate Christmas … But me and my kids go to see the decorations every year. It’s kind of Christmas attractions for us and specially my kids wait for this. Our condolences are with Musson family at this hard time. Indeed he left a beautiful memory in our mind.”
Douglas Musson is survived by his wife, Joanne, three children, five grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.