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Donald Victor Stirling
Donald Victor Stirling
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Donald Stirling Obituary
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27 Entries
Mark Waxer
March 6, 2021
Don, I’m so sorry for being so late on this message. We lost touch for a while. Was thinking about you this morning.
You were a “massive” part of my life. We shared a zillion great times together, mostly on the golf course, but most memorably when you presided over my marriage. That was such a special day. Remember every minute of it, particularly the round of golf that morning at Ancaster. What a way to start off that day.
Pam, Louise, and Liz, I hope you are well.
Don was the #1 character of all time.
I share a bunch of tears a whole 8 years later.
Love you my friend.
Please save a tee time for when we meet again!
Andrew Boon
April 24, 2008
Don Stirling had an instantly recognizable laugh that could transform a room. Don treated each and every player with respect, humour and interest. My condolences to his family. He was one of the greats...
dm
April 24, 2008
In Don's own words - 2006
(UTC Alumni News)
www.utc.ca/fichiers/UTC%20Newsletter%20Fall%202006.pdf
" After 25 years of ministry in The
UC of C and a few years of writing,-
two published novels, I am
in my eleventh year of preaching
year round at St. Andrew's Presbyterian
Church in Hemmingford
where we have been living since
1994. Somehow I have become a
Deputy Grand Chaplain of Grand
Lodge of Quebec and I have been
elected Master of our local Lodge.
I am Padré of the Legion in Hemmingford,
to the Fraser Highlanders
and a Chaplain in the Military
and Hospitaller Order of Saint
Lazarus of Jerusalem. This is my
second year as President of the
Westmount High Old Boys' Association
and I am also the Honorary
President of the McGill Redmen
Football Team. My golf
game is still quite acceptable and I
ski all winter at Tremblant. "
Pat Sheahan
April 23, 2008
Sorry to hear about Don. A true Redmen till the end!
My condolences to the family.
Head Coach
Queen's University
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John Grow
April 23, 2008
My condolences to your family.
Holmann Richard
April 22, 2008
My condolences to the Stirling family,
I had the chance to meet Don at Hemmingford Lodge, even if I only met him once, just talking to him, you could see that he was a man of character. Happy to meet ,sorry to part ,happy to meet again.
Reggie Fallu
April 22, 2008
My condolences and sympathies to all the Stirling familly.
One on one, Don was a Byron Nelson, in a crowd he was a Ben Hogan. That's the way I will remember him.
Tuesday Golfing Partner!
marilynn vanderstaay
April 22, 2008
Hello all,
I am grieving the loss of my friend Don Stirling.
We were friends through WHOBA and we trusted each other which is something very special. That is not to say we always agreed with each other. One year at a Remembrance Day memorial at WHS we actually got into a disagreement right there about how we were going to give the students a commemorative quarter with the poppy. But we always worked things out and I was and am one of his biggest supporters and he mine.
When it came time to repaint the interior of the school, which was my pet project since I first met Claude Dansereau in 2001, I came up with the first $5000 by being in the right place at the right time with The Rotary Club of Westmount. It was Don, however, who beat the bushes and did all the contacting to get Old Boys to donate the other $18,000. He got right on board and persevered with his contacts until we had enough money to complete both the painting and his project... refinishing the front doors, which was done last spring.
Don loved to tell stories and one of my favourites is how he came to be a student at WHS. He chose it. He moved to Montreal and decided he would go to WHS and he did. And with him he brought the dedication and the faithful love for the school that lasted for over a half a century... he was still talking about our upcoming banquet the last time I spoke with him even though he was already so weak. His love for WHS and his other commitments was real and genuine. He was truly looking forward to hosting the upcoming banquet and welcoming the alumni to the dinner.
Don will be sorely missed at the banquet.
But I think he will be most missed in November when he will no longer be at the Remembrance Day Service at WHS. I think the biggest legacy Don leaves WHS and the alumni is his respect for WHOBA and its original roots... to remember the boys who gave the ultimate sacrifice. If you did not have the opportunity to hear Don host the service you missed a truly anointed event.
Each year WHOBA gathers all the grade 11 students in the school lobby to remember. To remember because the names of the boys on the list were their age when they died. And each year Don eloquently reminded the students why Remembrance Day is so special to WHS, who sent and lost so many of its prized students in the wars.
Each year he would set up the event by focusing on one special student... a boy or a girl... and introduce them and then wrap the presentation around him or her. Interacting with them as he read all the names of all the students whose names are on the plaques that hang in the lobby.
As Don read the names he gave them life and relevance by giving a brief story of who they were or their accomplishments or who their siblings were. He brought all those names to life as I have never heard before and suspect I won't again. His reading of the list was more a soliloquy that often brought tears to the eyes of some of the toughest looking students. An event they will remember all their lives. An event I will remember all my life.
Don ruled WHOBA with an iron hand. He decided when the banquet would be and insisted on Thursday evening rather than a Friday that would have lent itself to a weekend event. But it would be, and is, Thursday evening. He knew what he wanted WHOBA to be and continually strove to make it the high end dignified organization it should be. He was excited that we have being securing a broader range of speakers in the last few years and had a vision to bring more grads home to Westmount, even though he himself lived in Hemmingford and had to make the drive into the city each time for even a 30 minute meeting.
I wrote a few weeks ago that this year's speaker Marc Garneau, who was Don's choice, would be a good enough reason to stop everything and come home to Westmount for the banquet on May 8. That this is the year to come home. Now with Don's passing this is the year to come home and not only be inspired by this year's guest speaker, but also to be inspired by and remember Don Stirling, a man who for over 50 years truly loved WHS and its students. He was committed to the school, to the board, to the students and to the community. He is sorely missed and the banquet... and the graduation in the fall where he always had a lot to say to the students... for many years to come.
For you who never had the opportunity to meet Don, you missed meeting a genuine person. For those of you who did, I share your grief at his too early death
warmest regards,
marilynn vanderstaay
1971
WHOBA has lost a great leader in and a great man with the passing of Don
Mike Mahoney
April 22, 2008
Don was a colourful, generous person who touched everyone he came in contact with. The Redmen family has lost a passionate supporter and more importantly, a great person. I would like thank Don for everything he did for the teams and players he was involved with. My deepest sympathies to the Stirling family.
McGill Redmen (1999-2003)
Barry Yaxley
April 22, 2008
I send my deepest sympathy to Don's family. A truly great man. He will be sorrily missed. Go with God to a better place.
Happy to meet , sorry to part ,happy to meet again.
Steve Brewer (WHOBA Director)
April 22, 2008
I would like to extend sympathies to all of Don's family and friends on behalf of the members of WHOBA, the Westmount High School alumni association, where Don was an active participant over the years. He served as our President and was so at the time of his unexpected passing. His many WHOBA friends will miss him at our annual Dinner on May 8th and also on November 11th when we hold the annual Rememberance Day ceremony, an event Don introduced and conducted for the last several years at WHS School, at which WHOBA members and students alike honour those alumni who made the supreme sacrifice on behalf of our Country, Canada.
Al Alegria
April 21, 2008
Our deepest condolences to Pamela, Louis, Liz, Ann & Walter for your loss. Hemmingford Lodge will miss Donald greatly! He was a great human being and friend who will be missed by not only his family and brothers but by all of those who had the privilege to meet him. Happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again! Rest in peace dear friend and brother, see you in the great lodge above.
Dale Langille
April 21, 2008
Don was a pleasure to know and will be sorely missed by myself, my family, all the Brethren of Hemmingford Lodge as well as anyone who had the pleasure of being on Don's good side :) His dedication to Hemmingford Lodge as well as the Grand Lodge of Quebec will always be remembered.
Happy to meet, Sorry to part, Happy to meet again.
Doreen Richards
April 21, 2008
My deepest sympathy to Pamela, Louis,Liz,Ann & Walter.I am very sad to hear of Don's passing. He had a great zest for life and made an impression on everyone he met, with his wonderful enthusiasm. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Michael Lally
April 21, 2008
My condolences to the Stirling family, especially Liz-Ann, whom I know Don loved very much.
Don's wonderful nature and his outrageous stories will be forever missed. I will miss him.
Edwin Keddy
April 21, 2008
A good friend and golfing buddy with a great knowledge of the game he loved. I will miss you Don. Our sympathy at this time to the family.
Margaret and Edwin Keddy
Jean and George Norman
April 21, 2008
We will miss you Donald.
Friends and neighbours,
Andrew Latour
April 20, 2008
On behalf of myself and Heritage Hemmingford, I extend our deepest sympathies to the Stirling Family.
Samir Chahine
April 20, 2008
The McGill family lost a great leader. My deepest sympathies go out to the Stirling family. Don was a man who always believed in the spirit of all that he came in contact with. He knew how to bring out the best in people and was always positive with a ray of confidence. I will always remember Don for his laughter and his commitment to help people by believing in them. We will miss you Mr. Stirling
Bill & Joan Tourgis
April 20, 2008
We wish to extend our deepest sympathy to Pam, Louise, Walter, Michelle and family, and Liz Anne and Bill, and to all those who loved Don as much as we did. His passing will create a huge void in many lives.
A big hearted man, with an enormous zest for life, and a keen intellect; but most of all he was our very good friend, and we shall miss him very much. Our love to all the Stirlings.
Bill, Joan, Nancy and Campbell Tourgis.
Tom Rogers
April 20, 2008
I am saddened to hear of Don’s passing.
He was one of those guys I thought would be with us forever.
He was a great supporter of the Redmen and will be missed.
My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family
Harry Zarins
April 20, 2008
McGill has lost a colorful character! My sympathies to the family.
Gavin Wyllie
April 20, 2008
This is a great loss to McGill Redmen football. Don was the Honourary President of the team and a loyal supporter- good times and bad.
He attended all the home games and ,as I recall, provided the team with apples from Hemmingford. At last year"s picnic day, he tirelessly prepared hot dogs for the team until his eyes were red from the smoke.He was regularly emptying his pockets to provide the team with extras.
Very sad.
Joff Elkas
April 20, 2008
Very sad news. My sympathies to the Stirling family.
Harold Allen
April 19, 2008
Please accept my deepest sympathies.
Earl Zukerman
April 19, 2008
The McGill University department of athletics offers its sympathies to the family on the passing of Don Stirling, honorary president of the Redmen football team, who died on April 17, 2008 after a brief bout with stomach cancer, at the Barrie Memorial hospital in Ormstown, Que. He was 75.
Stirling, a receiver with the Redmen in 1953 and intercollegiate middleweight boxing champion in 1954, served in various capacities with the team’s alumni support group for more than two decades.
“Don was usually the first to call me with words of encouragement every Monday morning, win or lose,” recalled Charlie Baillie, who was head coach of the Redmen from 1972 to 2000. "He was a tremendous fundraiser for the team, introduced the McGill football tie -- which proved to be one of the most successful fundraising ventures -- initiated a Toronto chapter for the Friends of McGill, and was the first to reach into his pocket to help with any cause. He will be missed. It's the biggest loss to McGill football that I can remember going back 40 years to when I started as an assistant coach in 1967.”
Stirling was instrumental in raising funds to reduce the cost of championship rings for McGill's 1987 Vanier Cup team. In recent years, he organized the Quarterback Club luncheons.
Stirling’s last public appearance was at the McGill football awards banquet, March 15, 2008, where he left his wheelchair to hand out the inaugural Dr. Strachan Hartley memorial trophy, his own creation which is presented to the player who best combines football with academic excellence and leadership.
“It’s a huge loss for us,” said Vaughan McVey, past chair of the Friends of McGill Football. “Don was the type of fellow that took an active interest in getting to know all the players and went to great lengths to supply them with freshly-picked apples from Hemmingford every fall. He was a loyal, fervent fan and rarely missed a game, home or away.”
Born Donald Victor Stirling on Dec. 25, 1932 in Winnipeg, Man., he attended Gorman Bell high school in Winnipeg and transferred to Westmount high school in Montreal, later serving as president of the Westmount HS Old Boys Association. Stirling enrolled at McGill in 1950 and graduated with a BA in 1954, followed by a divinity degree in 1958. He served on the McGill Winter Carnival committee, was president of the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (1953-54), chaired the debating team and received a Scarlet Key leadership award.
A part-time member of the national parole board, he was an avid golfer and member at Club Hemmingford, authored two novels, and most recently, served as Worshipful Master for the Masonic Lodge of Hemmingford, Que.
Stirling is survived by two daughters (Louise, Liz-Ann), a son (Walter) and his wife Pamela.
April 19, 2008
To all the Stirling family,
We were so sorry to hear of Don's passing. He will be very sadly
missed.
Our sincere sympathy,
Dan and Sharon Mark, Hemmingford
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