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Joseph MACBRIEN Obituary

JOSEPH JAMES MACBRIEN February 20, 1925 - November 18, 2018 In his 94th year. Beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather, father-in-law and friend, Joseph MacBrien died peacefully of natural causes on Sunday, November 18, 2018, at Sunnybrook Hospital's Veteran Centre.He was predeceased by father W.A.H. (Bill) MacBrien, mother Blanche (Kilpatrick) MacBrien,brother W.A.H. (Bill) MacBrien, and wife of almost 50 years, Ann (Nicholls) MacBrien. Born and raised in Toronto, Joe attended Cresent School and St. Andrews College, then joined the WWII effort in 1942 byenlisting in the Royal Canadian Navy as an Officer Cadet. He later served on British and Australian warships in the Pacific as Navigating Officer. Joe completed pilot training in 1946 and served on an exchange tour as a fighter pilot with the US Navy. As Lieutenant and jet fighter pilot, he flew 66 combat missions off the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (Korean War Service) subsequently receiving the United States Distinguished Flying Cross for his extraordinaryefforts. In 1953, he attended Royal Naval Staff College and was appointed Lieutenant-Commander, later serving as Staff of Assistant Chief of Naval Staff in Ottawa until 1957. Post military service, Joe was employed with Canadair (Montreal) as Assistant to the President.He later moved with his family to Toronto to pursue a career in finance management. Joe loved navigation, photography and sailing. In 1964, he was selected to represent Canada sailing in the Tokyo Olympics in the Dragon class, alongside close friends Ed Botterell and Lynn Watters. He continued sailing into the 1980s. Joe is remembered with love by his children Jennifer, Marian, Julia, Susan and William (Bill); and his grandchildren Megan, Mallory, Meredith, Martin, Steven and Lauren; and great grandchild Finnley. The family extends its special thanks to the very caring staff of Sunnybrook Hospital Veteran's Centre where Joe resided comfortably for several years. Cremation has been arranged. A private family gathering will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Sunnybrook Foundation, 2075 Bayview Avenue, KGW01, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5. Operation Raise a Flag raises funds in support of the Veterans program at Sunnybrook.

Published by The Globe and Mail from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, 2018.

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