John Markland "Mark" Molson (28 April 1949 – 19 January 2006) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

player from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Fenton, Michigan Fenton is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan that lies mostly in Genesee County, with small portions in neighboring Oakland and Livingston Counties. It is part of the Flint Metropolitan statistical area. History It was first established ...

. He was a member of the

Molson family The Molson family of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was founded by John Molson, who immigrated to Canada in 1782 from his home in Lincolnshire, England. They are considered to be one of Canada's most prominent business families with a combined net w ...

and attended

Selwyn House School Selwyn House School (SHS) is an English-language independent K-12 boys' school located in Westmount, Quebec. The school was founded in 1908 by Englishman Captain Algernon Lucas and was named in honour of Selwyn College at the University of C ...

. Most frequently partnered with Boris Baran, he won the Canada national bridge team Championships seven times, seven

North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual contract bridge, bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November fo ...

, and came in second as a member of the Canada open in the 1995

Bermuda Bowl The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national . It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Venice Cup (women), the d'Orsi Senior Bowl and the Wu ...

. On September 5, 1998, his daughter, Jennifer Rose Molson, was born. He married fellow bridge world champion Janice Seamon-Molson, Jennifer's mother, on March 16, 1999. Janice is still a highly ranked Bridge player and Jennifer attended the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...

for musical theatre. Molson died suddenly of complications during an operation for a dissected

aortic aneurism An aortic aneurysm is an enlargement (dilatation) of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times normal size. Typically, there are no symptoms except when the aneurysm dissects or ruptures, which causes sudden, severe pain in the abdomen and lower back ...

. This medical issue first surfaced while Mark was playing golf. He and Baran were inducted into the Canadian Bridge Federation Hall of Fame in 2013.

Bridge accomplishments

Awards

Herman Trophy The Goren Trophy (formerly the Herman Trophy) is awarded to the player who wins the greatest number of masterpoints at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History The Herman Trophy was do ...

(1) 1989 * Richmond Trophy (5) * Canadian Bridge Federation Hall of Fame, 2013

Wins

(7) **

Blue Ribbon Pairs The Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs (or simply the Blue Ribbon Pairs) is a national bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The event is restricted to those that have wo ...

(1) 1989 **

Grand National Teams The Grand National Teams (GNT) North American bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Grand National Teams is a team knockout event. The event is broken into ...

(1) 2002 **

Keohane North American Swiss Teams The Keohane North American Swiss Teams bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championships, North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Keohane North American Swiss Teams is a six s ...

(4) 1992, 1994, 1995, 2002 **

Reisinger The Reisinger national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Reisinger is a board-a-match event. History The event is contested for the Reisinger Trophy ( ...

(1) 1989

Runners-up

Wernher Open Pairs The Wernher Open Pairs national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championships, North American Bridge Championship (NABC). Typically starting on the Tuesday of the NABC, the Wer ...

(1) 1992 **

(1) 1998 **

(1) 1982 **

Spingold The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Spingold is a knock-out team event that attracts the top contract bridge players in the world. T ...

(1) 1982

References

External links

*
Mark Molson Interview
conducted by

Audrey Grant Audrey Lindop Grant is a Canadian professional educator and a contract bridge teacher and writer known for her simple and humorous approach to the game. Grant is from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Grant and the world champion player Eric Rodwell co- ...

(audio-video at YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Molson, Mark 1949 births 2006 deaths Bermuda Bowl players Canadian contract bridge players Canadian people of English descent People from Fenton, Michigan Game players from Montreal Sportspeople from Metro Detroit