Obituary of Donald John Alexander Wright, B.A., D.M., L.M.

WRIGHT, Donald (Don) John Alexander, B.A, D.M., L.M., Member of Order of Canada. Don passed away peacefully at his home in Toronto after a brief illness on June 27th, 2006 in his 98th year. His beloved wife Lillian, his life partner and best friend, predeceased him on January 12, 1993. Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his sister Dr. Mary Jean Wright of London, Ontario, son Timothy and his wife Sharon (nee Empringham) of Sarnia, daughter Priscilla of Toronto, son Patrick (predeceased in 1993), grandsons and granddaughters Christopher and his wife Katrin (nee Zeuner) of Toronto, Brian and his wife Susan (nee Prince) of Australia, Liam and his wife Louise of Toronto, Alyssa of Cannington and Tarah and her husband Daniel of Halifax, great-grandsons Connor, Kyle, Corwin, Benjamin and Aidan, and great-granddaughters Cassidy and Lilly. Don really lived a charmed life. He was born in Strathroy, Ontario to Ernest and Jean (nee Clark) Wright in 1908. He had three brothers and a sister Dr. Mary Wright. The family was very involved in theatre and music and the boys formed the "Wright Brothers Orchestra� which had a great following during their school years and on through university. Don met his "Lilly Belle� (Lillian (nee Meighen)), the daughter of the Right Honourable Arthur Meighen and his wife Isabel (nee Cox) at one of the dances and the rest was history. They courted each other for their entire lives together. At the University of Western Ontario, Don started the U.W.O. marching band - an institution that continues to this day. He was a very successful athlete as a sprinter, high hurdler and his long jump record of twenty-three feet, eight inches held for over a quarter century. Don taught music, history, Latin and Greek for several years at Sir Adam Beck Collegiate in London and all of his classes were over-subscribed. His pedagogical talents were prodigious and his former pupils still rave about his classes more than 60 years after he taught them. Don became supervisor of music for the London Board of Education and from there he was recruited to take over the reins of CFPL Radio. He completely remodeled the studios and control rooms and simultaneously brought new and exciting programming to life. He increased the audience levels many times over. His "CFPL Goes Calling� brought many talented people (both musical and other forms of radio entertainment) onto the airwaves. Such voices as Max Ferguson (Rawhide), Ward Cornell, John Tretheway and Murray Brown were all brought into CFPL by Don. His outstanding creation while there was his "Don Wright Chorus� which entranced audiences throughout both Canada and the U.S. all through the early 1950s. Don moved to Toronto in 1955 and continued his advertising "jingle� business in addition to being Musical Director for the Denny Vaughn Show, Wayne and Schuster and the Cliff McKey show "Holiday Ranch�. He developed a new radio choir called the Don Wright Singers which performed for several years. As his career matured he composed a series of provincial anthems presented in a performance package called "Proudly we Praise�, a tribute to Canada, which could be performed by professionals or amateurs, and Don was very proud to be asked to arrange and conduct a performance of this work on Parliament Hill on Canada�s Centennial for Queen Elizabeth II. Don�s philanthropy in later years was generous and impressive. He donated to track and field endeavours and musical programmes at many universities across Canada. He received several Honourary Doctorates from Canadian Universities for these efforts, and the faculties of music at U. W. O. and Victoria University bear his name. Grace Hospital in Toronto as well as St. Michael�s Hospital�s maternity centres bear his and Lillian�s names. A celebration of his life will be held in ST. JAMES CATHEDRAL, 65 Church Street, (at King Street East) Toronto on Thursday, July 6th at 11 o�clock. A reception will follow. Private entombment in the family niche at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Please direct any donations to the charity of your choice.