Help Maurie's Family with End-of-Life Expenses

Hi I'm Heather, the daughter of Maurice A. Irish Jr (known as Maurie to his friends and Chuckwagon to his fellow Appalachian Trail hiking friends).

On Monday, May 17, 2021, my brothers, sister-in-law and I said goodbye to our dad who passed away after fighting for 6 weeks with COVID pneumonia--hooked up to a ventilator for nearly three weeks. He fought so hard and we're so proud of him. It's been a tragic time for his extended family as we said goodbye to a man who was always on the go and so full of life. If you knew Maurie/Chuckwagon, we'd love to hear your memories below. We've shared his obituary and some of our family memories with you below.

If you feel inspired to give a donation in memory of our dad, we're raising money for his end-of-life expenses. We appreciate all the love and memories you've already shared and they truly offer a healing balm to our grief. We're so grateful our dad was surrounded by so much love throughout his life. We know he was truly grateful for all of you.

With much gratitude

Heather, Andrew and Ethan and Shanny (Maurie's children and daughter-in-law)

Some people called him a cowboy. Some people called him—Maurice

When Maurice (Maurie) A. Irish Jr. (77 years old) of Wellington, Ohio, walked into a room, he’d leave a lifelong impression on strangers within five minutes. It was hard not to notice him—sporting a long beard to rival ZZ Top, cowboy boots and wearing a three-cornered hat if he was feeling fancy. A country hippy, colonial mashup. Knee slapping, hearty laugh, jokes, unapologetic sass and his own interpretation of an Irish jig would follow—your first Maurie encounter would inevitably go from shock or confusion to celebration and just as the saying goes, people never forgot how he made them feel.

It was the bold authenticity that people most remembered. Not many live unapologetically. Most give into societal pressure. Not Maurie. Even in kindergarten he did his own thing—refusing to color inside the lines with his left hand, which in the ‘40s was already a pretty big risk for a spunky kid. His punishment? He was held back a year—making him a graduate of Wellington High School, class of 1962 (not ‘61). Did he give a shit? No. At the end of the day, he did his own thing. He never liked following rules—he made up his own.

As a high school athlete, he represented the Wellington Dukes in track, bringing home several awards. To train for the track meets, he would race the school bus home from Wellington High School, 7.5 miles away. He beat it on several occasions. His love of running and walking would become a lifelong hobby and years later, he would run an under-five-minute mile in bootcamp with combat boots.

Maurie’s first overseas trip and first-time flying was headed to war in Vietnam. At 21 years old, he was drafted into the Army and received his training at Fort Knox in Kentucky in 1965, receiving a sharpshooter badge for rifle. To his youngest sister Connie (Irish) Samay, only 5 at the time, he was a hero before he headed to Vietnam—saving her from drowning when she tried to emulate her big brother’s diving techniques while visiting him on base. He was later assigned to Saigon where he was stationed as a clerk typist during the Vietnam War from 1967–68, when he was honorably discharged.

After the war, Maurie worked at General Motors and later built a home on family land, which he was immensely proud of. He loved hosting hog roasts and live bands at his home. His campfire specialty was a hearty stew made over a large cast iron kettle that served the tens of people who visited and every Fourth of July, he and his friends would host a firework display outside of Huntington.

He married in 1985 and had three children, whom he passed down his appreciation for conservation, nature, gardening and exploring, taking them camping and teaching them how to build wigwams out of sapling trees in the backyard. Maurie was a passionate hunter, gun collector and sharpshooter.

In the ‘90s, he co-founded a craft business with his then-wife called Woodland Crafts, and made fine art weather vanes inspired by early American designs, selling them at craft shows around Ohio and online. A highlight was dressing up at Yankee Peddler, an excuse to wear his three-corner hat in all its glory and, later, having the opportunity to create a commission for a Hollywood film producer’s ranch.

Everyone who knew Maurie knew how passionate he was about his opinions, but his kids were very grateful for the space he gave them to live authentically, just as he had, even if it was different from his way of life. He supported them no matter what they decided to do, whether it was becoming a game warden, building their own home or buying a one-way ticket to live in Scotland. He loved receiving visits from his two young grandchildren, who he fondly dubbed “the Little Critters” and loved Christmas shopping for them.

During retirement, he loved going to wineries and local breweries with his sisters and brother-in-law as well as connecting with new and lifelong friends at the American Legion in Wellington, the Ohio Amvets Post 162 in Huntington and, later, through hiking. In March 2019, after training for a lifelong dream, he traveled to Georgia to hike the Appalachian Trail and was later given the trail name Chuckwagon. Days before his 75th birthday in August, he arrived in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, having trekked 1,025 miles total—nearly half of the full trail length. He had planned to complete the trail in 2020 but delayed it due to the pandemic. He still had the trail in sight for 2021 before he contracted COVID pneumonia in April.

After fighting COVID pneumonia for a month and a half, Maurie, aged 77, started a new heavenly adventure on May 17, 2021, meeting his parents Mary Ellen “Doris” (Dangler) Irish and the OG, Maurice A. Irish Sr, aunt Edith Irish, niece Angela Lacko, cousin Jim Irish, and great-nephew Tyler Lacko. The after(life) party has just begun with Maurie’s arrival.

He is survived by his children, Heather, Andrew and Ethan (Shanny) Irish; two grandchildren, Mackenzie and Mason Irish; sisters Mary Jane Cowie, Cindy Irish and Connie (David) Samay; nephews Chris Cowie, Shawn Cowie (Trey Harpole), Randy (Tiffany) Cowie and Brad (Tracey) Lacko; niece Alisha (Scott) Wilson; and cousins Jill Irish and Richard Irish.