BRENDAN O'BRIEN

BRENDAN O'BRIEN QC, LSM
Peacefully at home in Dundas, Ontario, on July 13, 2007. L o v ingl y r emem b e r ed b y Beverley, his wife of 44 years, and his children Susie and Duncan, and their families Peter, Bridget, Thomas and Jamie Mountford, Marita and Josie and Brendan O'Brien. Brendan will also be greatly missed by his sister Geraldine (Charles Brady) and many nieces and nephews. Brendan was pre-deceased by his parents, Florence (Miley) and Donel, and by siblings Charles, Eileen (Phelan), Laureen ( Weile r ) , E d w a r d , M ile y, Elizabeth (Betty McGoey), and George. Brendan was born in 1909 in Toronto, and raised in Dixie, Ontario. He spent 96 of his 98 summers on Lake Joseph, most of those on his beloved Burnt Island. He had a long and distinguished career as a lawyer in Toronto, beginning as a junior with the fir m of Phelan and Richardson after being called to the bar in 1932. He eventually became senior partner, before the firm merged with Aylesworth Thompson in 1986. He taught at Osgoode Law School in the 1950s and in the Bar Admission Course until 1959. In 1966 he was elected Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada. During his term he made significant contributions, including outlining a plan which would eventually become the basis for the Law Foundation of Ontario. He remained an active participant of Convocation until the age of 96. In 2005 he received the Law Society Medal for his many contributions to the province's justice system. In 1979 Brendan became the first president of the Osgoode Society. His passionate interest in history inspired his authorship of two books, Speedy Justice (1992), and The Prettiest Spot in Muskoka (1999). A private family funeral will be held on Tuesday July 17, 2007 at Cattel, Eaton & Chambers Funeral Home, 53 Main Street, Dundas. Cremation has taken place. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Victorian Order of Nurses w o u ld b e a pp r e c i a t ed. www. ca tt ele a t on a nd c h a m b e rs . ca