What a great story @tattoodjay! And yes, it appears to be a Canadian Maple; their Fall colors are beautiful. That's so nice of you to take photos for your friend as well; what a beautiful memorial!
There a tree in Ontario, Canada, (Niagara Falls area) called the Comfort Maple, named after the Comfort Family who were 'famous' in the area. It's apparently 500 years old; We were there a few years ago. Check this out:
And that's me being goofy, but just to show you the sheer size of it!
Hope your friend's mom's tree stays there that long :)
WOW that one is huge, I visited Niagara falls, but I never saw this one
It's about 20 minutes outside of Niagara Falls :) Glad you enjoyed it.
Ok I did t go that far have a great day