John A. Tory

John Arnold Tory, QC (March 7, 1930[1] – April 3, 2011) was a Canadian lawyer and corporate executive.

John A. Tory
Born
John Arnold Tory

(1930-03-07)March 7, 1930
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedApril 3, 2011(2011-04-03) (aged 81)
Florida, U.S.
Resting placeMount Pleasant Cemetery
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
University of Toronto Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School
OccupationLawyer and corporate executive
Spouse(s)Elizabeth "Liz" Bacon (1953–2011; his death)
Children4 (including John Tory)
Parent(s)John S. D. Tory
RelativesJames Marshall Tory (brother)

Early life and education

Tory was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Kathreen Jean Arnold and John Stewart Donald Tory, a lawyer who founded Torys. He had an older sister, Virginia, and a fraternal twin brother, James Marshall Tory.

Tory, along with his brother, James, graduated from the University of Toronto Schools in 1946 at the age of 16. Their father sent them to Phillips Academy Andover, where they studied for two years before enrolling at the University of Toronto. They were undergraduate students for two years before they switched streams to attend the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 1949.[2] They graduated in 1952 and completed two years of additional training at Osgoode Hall, and with his brother, they joined their father’s firm at the age of 24.[2]

Career

Together with his twin brother James Marshall Tory, he entered the practice of law in 1953, later founding the firm of Tory, Tory, Deslauriers (now Torys LLP) and was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1965.

After successfully guiding the build-up of Torys, John ceased practising law in 1974 and began working full-time for the Thomson family, first under founder Roy Thomson and then, following Roy's death in 1976, for his son Kenneth, eventually becoming President of the family's principal holding company, The Woodbridge Company Limited. Until his death he was the president of Thomson Investments Limited. John was a friend and financial advisor of the late media magnate Kenneth Thomson for fifty years and continued until his death to serve on the board of Thomson Reuters, company formed by the merger of Thomson Corporation with international news service Reuters. The Globe and Mail described him as the "sage consigliere to the Thomson family."[3]

He was a close friend of the late media magnate Ted Rogers and served on the board of directors of Rogers Communications since 1979.

Tory was also a friend to Joseph S. Atkinson, Toronto Star publisher.[4] Despite their political positions (Tory had ties to Conservatives and Atkinson with the Liberal Party). Atkinson appointed Tory and his brother James, to be Executors of his Will along with five others.

Personal life

Tory married Elizabeth (Liz) Bacon, a nurse, on May 15, 1953.[1] They had four children: John H. Tory (born 1954), Jennifer (born 1955), Jeffrey (born 1960) and Michael (born 1961). His son, John Tory, is the current Mayor of Toronto and former Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader.

Elizabeth's mother, Helen Yvonne Solomon, was born in 1909 to a Russian Jewish family that had emigrated to Canada six years earlier and settled in Toronto.[5] Her father, Howard English Bacon, was a member of the Anglican Church of Canada and she was raised a Christian.[5]

Death

Tory suffered a stroke on April 1, 2011 while at his Florida home and died on April 3, 2011 at the age of 81.[4]

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gollark: PotatOS, my highly advanced operational system, gets around the halting problem by being unreliable enough that it will sometimes just halt for no apparent reason.
gollark: The main problem with that is the halting problem.
gollark: Template Haskell does let you sort of do that.
gollark: I dislike having to sully my perfect stateless code with such impurities, but alas.

References
  1. Martin, Sandra (April 9, 2011). "John A. Tory: A quiet, humble man who shaped Canadian dynasties". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  2. McFarland, Janet (August 20, 2013). "For James Tory, law 'just seemed like a grace for him'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  3. Pitts, Gordon (December 2, 2008). "Relentless". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  4. Ogilvie, Megan (April 3, 2011). "Obituary: Lawyer John A. Tory guided Canada's mightiest men". The Star. Toronto.
  5. "John Tory Is Jewish, Claims Israeli Press". The Huffington Post. November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
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