Lorne Strachan MITCHELL

1928 - 2022

LORNE STRACHAN MITCHELL December 15, 1928 - April 12, 2022 In his 94th year, peacefully and surrounded by his family. Devoted husband of 65 years to wife, Dody (née Holmes) who predeceased him in 2021. Beloved father of Sue (Randy) Jorgensen; Cathie (Don) Archibald, and Steve (Barb Leighton). Loving grandfather ("Pops") to David (Faryl Reisman) Jorgensen; Scott (Rileigh Ponton) Chapman; Sarah Jorgensen (and furbaby Murphy); Kevin Chapman; John Mitchell; Erica Mitchell; Sam Archibald; and Maggie Archibald. Loving uncle to Sheila (Rick) Stewart and Mary (Bob Misselbrook) Wright. Also predeceased by his daughter, Sandy; son, Geoff; and parents, Laurier (Lal) Mitchell and Muriel ("Honey") Hogg. Lorne was first and foremost a family man. Despite his passion for engineering and his business success, family always came first, as summed-up on his customized license plate: 1TW 5GK (1 terrific wife, 5 great kids). Whether it was at the cottage at Beaverton or later at Healey Lake, at their home in Don Mills or, in their retirement years, at their home in Collingwood, Lorne and Dody created an environment that welcomed friends and family alike. The Healey Lake cottage in particular was a place of much fun, laughter and consumption of good food and drink. Lorne loved to ski and made many trips to Snowmass, Big White, Sun Peaks, and Panorama. In his retirement, he was a seasons' pass holder at Blue Mountain in Collingwood and skied every weekday morning until he was sidelined by a concussion at 85 years old. Even after hanging up his "slippery boards" he continued to monitor snow conditions at his favourite ski resorts and would drive by the slopes in Collingwood to check out the conditions for himself making daily, humorous email reports to his family. Lorne had a wonderful sense of humour and a quick wit which was evident both personally and professionally. He loved a turn of phrase and humourous wordplay. Honesty, integrity and ethics governed both his personal and professional lives. More than anything, he was a man of his word. Professionally, he had a long and distinguished career as an innovative and creative mechanical consulting engineer of national and international renown. He prided himself on being an "architect's engineer" and was held in the highest regard within the architecture, engineering and construction industries. In the late 1990s he was elected an honorary member of the Ontario Association of Architects, a very unique distinction for a Professional Engineer. Lorne graduated from the University of Toronto in 1953 (Engineering Physics), maintaining a straight 'A' average other than 2nd year when he was pleasantly distracted by the love of his life and future wife, Dody. Lorne's lifelong devotion to Dody was inspirational, especially during the latter years of her progressing dementia. His actions created a set of blueprints, establishing the gold standard for his children and grandchildren on how to be a father and husband. After a short stint in Winnipeg in the mid/late 1950s, he joined Bob Tamblyn in Toronto to form R.T. Tamblyn and Associates that later became TMP Consulting Engineers (The Mitchell Partnership) where he was president and board chair until he retired. Although he retired from TMP in 1997, he continued to do mechanical consulting engineering work in the Collingwood area until September 2021 when he finally retired after his health took a significant turn. In 2008, the University of Toronto presented Lorne with an Engineering Alumni Hall of Distinction Award in recognition of his lifelong accomplishments in the profession. A celebration of life to honour both Lorne and Dody will be held at a future date. Special thanks to Dr M. Gandhi (Stayner), Dr R. Leslie (Barrie) and Dr F. Yoon (Barrie) for Lorne's medical care, and to the wonderful caregivers at Comfort Keepers (Collingwood) for their care and support of Lorne in his home these past 7 months - in particular Alysia, Navi, Stephanie, Amy, Cathy and Pauline. Messages of condolence can be left on the Fawcett Funeral Home website: (https://www.fawcettfuneralhomes.com/obituary-listing). Donations in Lorne's memory may be made to: Hospice Georgian Triangle (https://hospicegeorgiantriangle.com/donate/), Georgian Triangle SPCA (https://www.gths.ca/donatenow/), or Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County (https://alzheimer.ca/simcoecounty/en/take-action/donate).