Mark David O''HARA

MARK DAVID O'HARA Mark David O'Hara, born June 7, 1950, passed away on April 18, 2024, in hospital after a four-week illness. He leaves Deborah Moir, his beloved partner of 22 years. Rarely apart in all this time, they built a beautiful life by the Scarborough Bluffs hosting many fireside family Christmases and, in summer, barbeques in the glorious flower garden on Catalina Drive. With his bright red hair and Irish gift of the gab, Mark welcomed all comers. For an imposing guy, he was kind and considerate. He didn't have a sexist bone in his body. His gracious and vibrant spirit, his deep rumbling laugh made everyone feel at home. Mark loved his family and was proud he came from a long lineage of physicians, dating back to the 1800's. Predeceased by his mother, Margaret; and father, Dr. John O'Hara. Always generous in his praise, he never failed to brag about his sisters, Jane and Mary Anne Kosa; and brothers, Bill, Paul, John and Joseph. His many nieces and nephews will miss him dearly; as will his cousin, Michael Crothers and wife, Rosalind, who were very close to Mark and Debbie. In the 1960's, Mark attended St. Michael's College School in Toronto, where he played Junior B hockey as a bruising, all-star defenceman for the famed Buzzers. He went on to the University of Windsor and after began a career as a stockbroker in Toronto and Vancouver, where he specialized in equity and commodities futures. In market trading, as he did with many other "games," Mark became a student of it. With a keen intellect, he read widely. Present Mark with any game and he would master it. He was a scratch golfer, and excelled at everything from bridge to ball hockey, chess to bowling. Mark leaves a legacy of deep and enduring friendships. Perhaps none more than his St. Mike's buddies and the pals he made over the last 18 years at the Scarborough Golf Club, particularly his Tuesday Boys Club. From tee to green to the 19th hole, that club was Mark's happy place. And that's where we will remember the handsome, rugged, red-headed guy who was such a big part of our lives - swinging freely on the emerald-green grass, happy to be alive in the summer sunlight.