It is with great sadness that we announce that Miles Hearn, husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, passed away peacefully on February 25, 2023, from cancer.

Born in 1947, Miles grew up with his parents and sister Adele in Scarborough. Miles’ mother was a devoted lover of classical music, and passed this love on to her son. He started playing the French horn at the age of 10. By 15 he was already performing and was a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Miles was a working musician for more than 30 years. He performed with many orchestras, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Ballet Orchestra of Canada and the Hamilton Philharmonic, where he was first horn for 20 years.

He accompanied a great variety of artists, such as Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5, as well as Glen Gould. He also played for Broadway shows in Toronto and elsewhere, including long runs of Crazy for You and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Miles eventually retired as a musician to pursue teaching, but his love of music remained strong. He performed in several community musical theatre productions and was a member of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir for many years.

Looking back on his musical career, Miles wished to thank two talented musicians and mentors, Eugene Rittich and Fred Rizner.

Another great passion of Miles’ was nature. In his youth he accompanied his grandfather, Dr. J. Murray Speirs, on numerous birdwatching trips, fostering a life-long love and interest in the natural world.

After retiring from teaching, Miles found perhaps his favourite career of all, working as a nature guide for adults. The Toronto District School Board recognized his efforts and commitment to lifelong learning with the Learn4Life Jack Henshaw Award in November 2022. Miles built his nature walk program from one group per week to eight groups per week over the years. In addition, Miles found the time to spend two winters in Antarctica as a naturalist, and two weeks in northern Ontario every summer conducting the Breeding Bird Survey.

When not out in nature, Miles could be found enjoying a Leafs, TFC, Argos or Raptors game, travelling with his wife Marie, taking in a play or concert, or having a good laugh with family and friends.

Over the last five years, he also built a wonderful website, www.mileshearn.com, where he shared his boundless knowledge and pictures of nature from his daily walks. Through this website, Miles lives on with us.

Miles is survived by his wife Marie; his four children, Alexander (Ginny), Kathleen (Kris), Sophie (Pieter) and Evelyne (Jake); his sister Adele; his five grandchildren, Chloe, Calvin, Simon, Alice and Benjamin; his mother-in-law Hélène; his sisters-in-law Josée (Yvon) and Marie-Claude; his brother-in-law Denis; and his nephews and nieces, Jamie (Jan), Tanya, Émilie (Jérôme), Mélanie (Mimo), Philippe (Marie-Pier) and Mathieu (Alby). He will be dearly missed.

Memorial service details will be available at www.heritagefuneralcentre.ca/obituaries. If desired, memorial donations may be made to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.