A 77-year-old Kansas man who died in a western Newfoundland hotel fire was fulfilling a dream of hunting a moose 鈥� and his daughter says he got one.
Gina Heller says her father, Eugene Earl Spoon, phoned her in a state of elation the evening before the fire to say he had successfully shot a Newfoundland moose.
She says he was an avid hunter and had planned his bucket-list moose-hunting trip for months.
During the call 鈥� her last with her father 鈥� he spoke of the kindness of Newfoundlanders, and even passed the phone to a woman he had become friends with so Heller could say hello.
Heller says the family received a call from police saying her father was missing after a fire on Saturday morning destroyed the Driftwood Inn in Deer Lake, N.L., where Spoon was a guest.
RCMP confirmed Wednesday that his remains were found during a search of the fire area.
Deer Lake Mayor Mike Goosney says Spoon's family has asked that the meat from their father's moose be donated to a local food bank.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2024.
