Editing Stompin' Tom Connors (section)

===Death and memorial service===
Connors died of kidney failure on March 6, 2013, at his home in Ballinafad.<ref name = "MartinObit" /><ref name="Ballinafad">{{Cite web|url=http://www.orangeville.com/news-story/2501222-erin-area-resident-stompin-tom-connors-dead-at-77/|title=Erin-area resident, Stompin' Tom Connors dead at 77|date=March 7, 2013|work=Orangeville Banner|first=Greg |last=Quill}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = Stompin' Tom Connors|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10042187/Stompin-Tom-Connors.html|date = May 5, 2013|newspaper = [[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London}}</ref> He refused to seek medical treatment, as he was skeptical of the benefits of medical technology.<ref name = "MartinObit" /> On March 7, flags were lowered to half-mast at the [[National Arts Centre]] in Ottawa,<ref>{{Cite web|title = The NAC mourns the loss of Stompin' Tom Connors|url = http://nac-cna.ca/en/stories/story/the-nac-mourns-the-loss-of-stompin-tom-connors|publisher = [[National Arts Centre]]|date = March 7, 2013|access-date = March 9, 2013}}</ref><ref name="XinhuaObit">{{Cite web|author = Christopher Guly|title = Canadian folk legend Stompin' Tom Connors remembered|url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/entertainment/2013-03/08/c_132217048.htm|agency = [[Xinhua News Agency]]|date = March 8, 2013|access-date = March 8, 2013|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160412035859/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/entertainment/2013-03/08/c_132217048.htm|archive-date = April 12, 2016|df = mdy-all}}</ref> and also in [[Tillsonburg]], to mark his death.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Town of Tillsonburg Honours Stompin' Tom|url = http://www.tillsonburg.ca/LocalGovernment/MediaandCommunications/NewsDetails/tabid/2517/ArticleId/1477/Town-of-Tillsonburg-Honours-Stompin-Tom.aspx|date = March 7, 2013|access-date = March 9, 2013|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130716225601/http://www.tillsonburg.ca/LocalGovernment/MediaandCommunications/NewsDetails/tabid/2517/ArticleId/1477/Town-of-Tillsonburg-Honours-Stompin-Tom.aspx|archive-date = July 16, 2013|df = mdy-all}}</ref> On March 9, that following Saturday night, ''[[Hockey Night in Canada]]'' broadcast a special tribute to Connors at the opening of its broadcast.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Hockey Night in Canada pays tribute to late Stompin' Tom Connors |url = https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/hockey-night-pays-tribute-to-stompin-tom-connors-1.1348216|publisher = [[CBC Sports]]|date = March 9, 2013|access-date = March 10, 2013}}</ref>

Immediately after his death, ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' noted:

{{Blockquote|These days, Canada isn't scared to be a little loud and proud. Politicians push patriotic buttons and endlessly recite their devotion to "hard-working Canadians." Advertisers shamelessly (and successfully) plug our country and its natural beauty, and play up Canadians' adventuresome and ribald sides. But Stompin' Tom was doing that a long time ago, celebrating the end of a hard week's work with famous lyrics like,

:''The girls are out to bingo and the boys are getting' stinko''
:''And we'll think no more of [[Inco]] on a Sudbury Saturday night.''<ref>{{cite news|title = Thank you, Stompin' Tom Connors. We needed you |url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/editorials/thank-you-stompin-tom-connors-we-needed-you/article9441159/%3bjsessionid=qrcQR4lVTCShRbLd6n3DkLjGpn9TyjL1Hwn6pwb9FHx2nCBv7L29!-526044479/?ord=1|newspaper = [[The Globe and Mail]]|date = March 7, 2013|access-date = March 10, 2013|location=Toronto}}</ref>
}}

In a 1995 interview, Mr. Connors offered the opinion that nobody should die happy:

{{Blockquote|I think people should die without their dreams being fulfilled, so maybe they can have an excuse for coming around again.<ref name = "NYTobit" />
}}

On March 7, several members of the federal [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]] caucus, led by former musicians [[Charlie Angus]] and [[Andrew Cash]], performed a group rendition of Connors' signature song "[[Bud the Spud]]" in the foyer of the [[House of Commons of Canada]] in tribute.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://o.canada.com/2013/03/07/ndp-to-pay-tribute-to-stompin-tom-by-singing-bud-the-spud/#.UTkb_TePAhU|title = NDP to pay tribute to Stompin' Tom by singing 'Bud the Spud'|publisher = [[Canada.com]]|date = March 7, 2013}}</ref>

In addition to reports and obituaries published in the Canadian media, his death was also reported by ''[[The New York Times]]'',<ref name = "NYTobit" /> [[BBC News]]<ref name = "BBCobit" /> and the [[Xinhua News Agency]].<ref name = "XinhuaObit" />

A memorial was held on March 13, 2013, at the [[Peterborough Memorial Centre]] in [[Peterborough, Ontario]]. [[Tommy Hunter]] attended, and the celebration included speeches by former governor general [[Adrienne Clarkson]] and [[Ken Dryden]].<ref name = "CTV-Patch">{{Cite web|author = Nick Patch, [[The Canadian Press]]|title = Stompin' Tom fans, friends, family throw joyous memorial|url = http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/stompin-tom-fans-friends-family-throw-joyous-memorial-1.1193419|publisher = [[CTV News]]|date = March 13, 2013|access-date = March 14, 2013}}</ref> Testimonials were given or read from others, including [[Roméo Dallaire]], [[Rita MacNeil]] and [[Liona Boyd]]. Before his death, Connors had personally selected the artists who would perform:<ref>{{Cite news|title = Memorial pays tribute to Stompin' Tom Connors|url = http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/memorial-pays-tribute-to-stompin-tom-connors-1.1413117|publisher = [[CBC News]]|date = March 13, 2013|access-date = November 11, 2017}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tribute
! Artists
|-
|''Peterborough Postman'', ''The Blue Berets'', ''The Ballad of Stompin' Tom'' and ''The Hockey Song'' (videos)
|Stompin' Tom Connors
|-
|Fiddle medley of traditional music (The Maritime Waltz)
|Billy Macinnis
|-
|''Man in the Black Hat''
|[[Tim Hus]]
|-
|''Little Wawa'' and ''Gumboot Cloggeroo'' (medley)
|[[J.P. Cormier]] and [[Dave Gunning]]
|-
|''[[Farewell to Nova Scotia]]''
|[[Sylvia Tyson]] and [[Cindy Church]]
|-
|''The Bridge Came Tumbling Down''
|[[Dave Bidini]]
|-
|''Coal Boat Song''
|[[Damhnait Doyle]]
|-
|''So Long Stompin' Tom''
|[[Mike Plume]]
|-
|''I am the Wind''
|Mark Laforme
|}

At the end of the service, before ''Sudbury Saturday Night'' was played, Tom Connors, Jr., spoke about his father, and looked to the future:

{{Blockquote|I heard some people comment at the funeral, saying there'll never be another Stompin' Tom. Well, I got news for you. We still have a Canada, and we still have the roads, towns, people, jobs – and that's what Tom wrote about. So never say never.... He never liked anyone copying him, but anyone who wants to sing about Canada, keep 'er on going.

It's nice to travel south. It might be warmer on the skin, but if you go east and west, it'll be warmer on your hearts.<ref name = "CTV-Patch" />
}}

He was subsequently buried at Erin Union Cemetery in [[Erin, Ontario]].<ref name = "Gravelle">{{cite news|author = Phil Gravelle|title = Paying tribute to Stompin' Tom's philosophy|url = http://erininsight.blogspot.ca/2014/06/paying-tribute-to-stompin-toms.html|newspaper = Erin Advocate|date = June 11, 2014}}</ref> The [[headstone]] contains these words:

{{Blockquote|<poem>
The body has returned to sod,
The spirit has returned to God.
So on this spot, no need for grief,
Here only lies a fallen leaf.
Until new blossoms form in time,
The tree is where I now reside.
But with this poem, as you can see,
They haven't heard the last of me.<ref name = "Gravelle" />
</poem>}}

Connors was also the subject of a video tribute at the [[2013 East Coast Music Awards]] on March 10.<ref name=cousins>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/folk-singer-rose-cousins-wins-3-east-coast-music-awards-1.1339123 "Folk singer Rose Cousins wins 3 East Coast Music Awards"]. [[CBC News]], March 11, 2013.</ref>