Donald Arthur MCGRATH

1933 - 2020

DONALD ARTHUR MCGRATH 1933 - 2020 Peacefully at Sunnybrook Hospital on July 25th, Don was predeceased by his wife Carol and leaves behind his children Christopher (Debbie) and Ellen (Sam), and his four adored grandchildren, Jake and Brooke McGrath and Carter and Max Lewis, and his sister Nancy Kerr. Don was born in Swansea, Toronto in 1933 and attended Humberside Collegiate before attending Queen's University, where he made his life-long friends and lived the stories he would spend the rest of his life happily retelling. After graduating with a degree in Commerce in 1957, he spent one day at Osgoode Law School before deciding that group insurance was where the real action was. As a management consultant for employee benefits and pension plans, Don spent close to 20 years as a VP at Towers Perrin, where if he did not invent it, he surely perfected the art of the 2-martini lunch. In retirement Don and Carol moved to Wellington, Ontario where they enjoyed country life on the water for 13 years. Don believed his presence there caused the boom in tourism and increased cache of Prince Edward County. Don had an encyclopedic knowledge of history, enjoyed quoting obscure bon mots and was unbeatable in Jeopardy. He loved to laugh, had a great sense of humour and valued above all, a good audience. You could set a clock to Don's daily routines and a timer to his daily cigars. When kidney failure brought him near the end, he acknowledged with great pride that he had indeed had a very good run, and in the ICU he charmed his way to a final glass of Whiskey. Don never lost his sharp wit and humour, and he will be missed; however, as he passed his Ph.D. in puns on to his children, especially his son, the groans from the rest of the family will live on. Our family would like to thank his wonderful caregivers, Catalina and Cora, the nurses at Forest Hill Place, and the staff at C4, Sunnybrook Hospital. A private family interment will be held at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery on August 22nd.