If the Italians had Vito Rizzuto and the Hells Angels had Maurice Boucher, then Montreal’s Irish and anglophone community had Gerald Matticks, according to crime journalist Julian Sher.

He was a “larger-than-life” figure known for giving food to the poor.

And he allegedly led what became famously known as the West End Gang, who were said to have controlled the Port of Montreal. Prosecutors alleged even the Hells Angels depended on him at one point. The bikers called him “the boeuf.”

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But to many, he was simply “Big Gerry.”

On Friday, Matticks died at 85, reportedly of natural causes.

His family announced the news on Facebook, prompting an immediate stream of condolences.

“My dad was an amazing person,” Gerry Harris Matticks,

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