'You couldn't have asked for a better dad': Family mourns man lost in Deer Lake fire

A man who died in a hotel fire Saturday in Deer Lake, N.L., "was on his dream trip and he was doing what he loved," according to a daughter he left behind.

Eugene Spoon, 77, came to western Newfoundland from Kansas to go moose hunting. His daughter, Christy Rozo, said his goal was to finally catch his first moose.

He'd been doing it for years, and heard Newfoundland and Labrador was the best place for it.

But days after a fire engulfed the Driftwood Inn, officials found his remains in the rubble of the Deer Lake motel.

"He got his moose and he was so happy, so that means the world to us," Rozo said in an interview from California.

Spoon returned from his hunt on Friday, the day before the fire, Rozo said. He called her and her sister to share the exciting news and said he would be back home by the following afternoon.

Instead, she got a call from the RCMP on Sunday with tragic news. He was reported missing, unaccounted for since the fire began.

His remains were discovered on Wednesday during a police search of the scene. An investigation also involving the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is ongoing, and the cause of the fire remains unknown.

Rozo said she's remembering her father for his optimistic nature and love of life.

"You know when somebody says, what's your favourite place to be? He said, 'You know what my favourite place is? To be wherever I am right now, wherever I'm at in this moment,'" Rozo said.

"You couldn't have asked for a better dad. He was always lifting everybody up, always giving to other people."

Rozo said the support from Newfoundlanders and Labradorians has been a great comfort for her family.

"Everybody up there has just been so above and beyond. The mayor calling me three to four times a day, your premier has called me," she said. "I didn't know there were people like this."

Rozo hopes to have her father's remains in a couple of weeks once medical examinations are complete.

LISTEN | Hear Christy Rozo's full conversation on CBC Radio's On The Go:

On The Go8:57Remembering American tourist Eugene Spoon

He loved life... and he got his moose. We remember Eugene Spoon - the American tourist who lost his life in the Driftwood Inn fire in Deer Lake last weekend - when we speak with his daughter in California. (On The Go's Jo-Ann Dooley with Christy Rozo)

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