'He leaves city a better place'
Red Hill Valley Parkway opening his crowning glory
May 07, 2010
Steve Arnold and Wade Hemsworth
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/764913
Jack MacDonald liked to joke about whether he would live to see Hamilton's north-south expressway open.
He died Wednesday, 2 1/2 years after celebrating the opening of the road he had fought for throughout his long political life, which spanned 30 years in and out of municipal office, including two terms as mayor.
He was 82.
"It's been my life's work," he said when the Red Hill Valley Parkway opened in November 2007.
At the time, MacDonald said he hoped his ashes would be spread across its lanes when he died.
Many had felt the parkway should be named after him, but city council turned down the idea in 2005.
"It would be very difficult to find anything in Hamilton over the last 50 years that Dad wasn't a part of," his son Sandy said yesterday.
Former mayor Bob Morrow was deputy mayor when MacDonald wore the chain of office. Morrow remembered him as "a dynamic, aggressive and loyal Hamiltonian."
"I always appreciated his constant effort for Hamilton," Morrow said. "He had a real gung-ho approach and a real desire to work for the city. He was constantly pushing for things to happen here."
Mayor Fred Eisenberger was saddened by the news of MacDonald's passing.
"I know Jack was most pleased to finally see the Red Hill Valley Parkway completed," Eisenberger said in a statement released yesterday afternoon.
"Jack was a true city builder and fiercely proud Hamiltonian.
"He was an innovator and often ahead of his time; he leaves a lasting legacy and his city a better place."
MacDonald's list of accomplishments was long.
Over the years, he was a proponent of projects that later came to be known as Confederation Park, Jackson Square and the Central Library.
The colourful former mayor -- a heating and plumbing contractor in private life -- campaigned in a double-decker bus, and long after leaving politics remained a familiar figure in the city with his snowy hair and dapper dress.
He had made a tradition of stopping at Bill Newman's men's shop on election days to buy a new tie for his campaign manager, who would in turn buy one for him.
From 1991 until 2002, MacDonald wrote a regular freelance column for The Spectator, and was keenly interested in Hamilton politics and history to the very end.
A lifelong Conservative, his brash, take-no-prisoners style embraced controversy and raised hackles, especially among political liberals, but no one doubted his love for Hamilton or his talent for telling stories about it.
MacDonald's career in local politics started in 1949 when he was elected at 22, becoming the youngest Hamilton alderman ever. Four years later, he was voted to the city-wide board of control, a five-member executive committee of council regarded as the inner circle of municipal power.
In 1956, he challenged popular mayor Lloyd Jackson for the top job and lost, winning back his seat as senior controller two years later. In 1962, MacDonald lost the race for mayor to another giant, Vic Copps.
He returned once more to office in 1966, before stepping down in 1970.
MacDonald came to public prominence again as chairperson of the 1972 Grey Cup committee. The event and the game proved to be classics, and the 1972 game remains the most recent championship the Tiger-Cats have won at home.
He was named Citizen of the Year in 1973 in recognition of his Grey Cup work.
Finally, in 1976, the prize MacDonald had long sought became his when he was elected mayor, defeating acting mayor Vince Agro, who had stepped in for Copps after he suffered a catastrophic heart attack while running in the Around the Bay Road Race.
MacDonald served a pair of two-year terms as mayor until Bill Powell's upset win in 1980. He lost again in 1982, when Bob Morrow swept to victory.
In what would be his last campaign, MacDonald ran as Hamilton East candidate for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1984 federal election, losing to Liberal Sheila Copps, daughter of the former mayor.
He was appointed to the National Parole Board the following year.
Former police chief Colin Millar knew MacDonald as a friend and golfing partner. The pair met every Wednesday for coffee and played golf together frequently.
"I never had to ask Jack twice for an opinion on anything," Millar said. "We had some great arguments, or sometimes we'd go for two hours and not say a word."
His long political experience, Millar said, meant MacDonald could serve as a mentor for a generation of up-and-coming local leaders.
MacDonald's later years were plagued by health problems, including major heart surgeries in 1988 and 2004.
Throughout his public and private life, MacDonald served in many community organizations, including Hamilton East Kiwanis.
He was inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction in 1993 and received an honorary doctorate from McMaster University in 1996.
He was born in London, Ont., in 1927. His family moved to Hamilton in 1942. He quit school at 15 and joined the navy at 16.
After the Second World War, he apprenticed with his father and uncle before opening his own business in 1951.
MacDonald is survived by his wife Jessie, their children Sandy, Keith, Cameron and Jo-Anne and seven grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are still being finalized.
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