Michael Thomas Healy

HEALY, Michael Thomas - Passed peacefully on May 3, 2011. He was born on April 13, 1925 in Galway, Ireland. He earned a Bachelor's Degree at Trinity College, Ireland and a Doctorate in Canon Law (DDL) from Georgian University, Vatican. Following his education, he worked to rebuild the Catholic Church in Korea after the war. In Korea, Michael met and married Yong Ja Ro and they travelled to Hong Kong to work as the Assistant to the British Colonial Secretary. He immigrated to Canada in 1963 and work for the Ontario Government as a probation officer in Windsor, where he created one of the first volunteer programs in Canada. He was promoted to Supervisor in 1966 and moved to Sarnia and 1972 took the position of Regional Director of Probation for Northern Ontario; after which he was transferred to Toronto just prior to his retirement in 1988. During the 1979 Correctional Officers' strike, he refused to cross the picket line as requested by management, based on the Papal encyclical on the value of work. He is survived in North America by his wife Yong Ja (Bernadette baptismal name), son Joseph, grandchildren Michael and Katherine. Friends will be received at the Ogden Funeral Home, 4164 Sheppard Avenue East (east of Kennedy Rd.), Toronto, on Thursday from 5:00 - 9:00 p.m. Funeral Mass to be held on Friday at 11:00 a.m. at St. Bartholomew's Roman Catholic Church, 59 Heather Rd. (Brimley, north of Sheppard). Cremation to follow.