Molly Kurvink is being remembered by band mates for her love of music and sailing. The 62-year-old Guelph woman died Wednesday in an ice boating mishap on Guelph Lake.
Last month, Kurvink and her band Tamarack completed a few dates in a reunion tour that began this summer at Hillside Festival.
“She was 62 and a grandmother and up until a couple of weeks ago she was still slogging it out playing in bars and rocking out,” said band mate James Gordon.
Kurvink played in the band for more than 20 years, said Gordon.
“The delivery and passion she put into delivering a song was more than her singing technique — she just went for it,” said Gordon.
Police reported that Kurvink and her husband Harri Palm were ice sailing on Guelph Lake Wednesday when her boat fell through the ice about 200 metres from shore. Palm attempted to assist her but also became trapped in the frigid waters.
Kurvink died as a result of the incident. Palm is now in stable condition.
Fellow Tamarack member Jeff Bird shares the couple's passion for ice sailing and said he might have been on the ice that day as well if not for another engagement.
“Trying to put a positive spin on it, she died doing what she loved and I think she was probably having the time of her life,” said Bird.
Gordon also said Kurvink died doing what she was passionate about.
“You always try and look for silver linings. She always loved adventure and was always bold and right out there — and that’s how she ended,” he said.
Gordon said Kurvink's joy for life always came out on stage and he saw it during Tamarack's recent tour.
"She kind of went out on a high note that way too, I guess,”
Bird, Kurvink and Palm also played in another band called Common Ground. The band played some pretty tough rooms in the Ontario bar room scene back in the day, said Bird.
“Some of those places were kind of bleak, but even there she was just beaming,” he said.
Bird said he will offer up whatever support he can to Palm in the wake of the tragedy.
“He has a tough road ahead," said Bird.
Gordon said he first met Kurvink years before she began playing with Tamarack when she was known as more of a punk rocker who could play any style of music. He said there's no doubt she inspired other local women to rock out.
“It was very unusual at that time to see a woman rocking bass. She was kind of a pioneer," he said.
