Coonie passed away on January 27th, 2007 in Ottawa. He was  in his 91st year.  He served in the RCAF from 1939 – 1966.  He will be best remembered as one of the original “Rec Spec” officers during most of the 1950s until his retirement in 1966.  During the “heydays” of RCAF boxing, he handled the entire team as manager  - including the likes of “Pinky” Mitchell; Eddie Senos; and Ron Lasalle.  He was also well known in Forces hockey and was still an "on ice" official well into the 1960s – doing mostly Air Division games in Europe. Coonie was highly respected and admired for his sense of humour and sense of fair play.