Obituary of Glenn Hainey

The Honourable Glenn Hainey passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by family on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 after 70 years of living life to the fullest. Glenn leaves behind his wife and best friend, Susan, his three children, David, Laura (Michael Kaye) and Michael (Paul Smith), and his two grandchildren, Charlotte and Jack. He will be truly missed by his aunt Ada Hainey and countless friends and colleagues.

During his short but courageous six-month battle with cancer, Glenn showed the same strength and determination as he did immediately prior to his diagnosis, just seven months ago, when he was skiing fresh powder trying to keep up with his kids.

Glenn was born in Montreal in 1951. After relocating to Toronto in 1964, Glenn attended Upper Canada College where his high school rock band provided the training ground for all the jam sessions he would have over the years. No Hainey family gathering was ever complete without an assortment of instruments and Glenn taking center stage and calling the tunes!

Glenn was not just the leader of the Hainey clan but a leader in everything he did. He loved golf and skiing, serving as both the President of Rosedale Golf Club and the President of Georgian Peaks Ski Club. He was a passionate sailor and spent many years racing CARO on Lake Ontario, winning the C&C 29 World Championships in 1989. He was a respected lawyer and judge.

After graduating from law school at the University of Western Ontario in 1975, he began his career working with Arthur Maloney, Q.C. first acting as his Executive Assistant when he became the Ontario Ombudsman and later practicing criminal law with him. He joined Smith Lyons in 1981 and eventually became the leader of the Toronto litigation practice at Gowling Lafleur Henderson after the two firms merged.  He was elected a bencher of the Law Society of Ontario in 2008. In 2010, he was appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court.  Most recently, he was the Head of the Toronto Commercial List. A hearing before him has been described as “fair, just and also fun – a combination delivered by very few.”  He loved the law because he loved the people he worked with, from support staff to fellow judges.

Glenn was blessed to have many close and lifelong friends.  A storyteller with an incredible sense of humour, his jokes only got better each time he told them, which he did frequently, whether or not you had already heard them!

The center of his life was his family. He adored his children and grandchildren and was fiercely proud of all of them. The many family holidays - from heli-skiing in BC to summers spent at Laurali in Bermuda to sailing trips in the British Virgin Islands - were legendary and filled with love, laughter and happiness. Glenn lived a wonderful and blessed life. He was loved and respected. We will miss him deeply but we will never forget him. “You done good dad.”

A special thanks to Dr. Gazala, Dr. Li, his personal support worker Damalie Nakato and the entire team at the Odette Cancer Center. A celebration of Glenn's life will be held in the coming weeks. In lieu of flowers, donations in Glenn’s memory, if desired, can be made to the Odette Cancer Center at Sunnybrook Hospital through https://donate.sunnybrook.ca/.  Condolences may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com.