Remembering Don MacLeod

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our Past President, George Donald MacLeod (Don), who died on December 4, 2023, at the age of 93.

In memory of Don MacLeod, and in honour of his tremendous contributions to the organization, MROO has made a $5,000 donation to the Alzheimer's Society of Ontario.

About Don MacLeod

If others were the fathers of MROO, Don was certainly the godfather. As a founding member of MROO (then OMRO), Don first helped forge an alliance between MROO and CUPE’s Ontario Division, via the CUPE Ontario Pension Committee. In fact, for several years, MROO Past President Bill Harford and Don MacLeod teamed up to offer pension seminars across the province to CUPE members.

In the early 80’s Don MacLeod went searching for a company that would offer health insurance to retirees. The usual response: no thanks, retirees don’t sound like a good bet. Don persisted and was instrumental in forging a connection with ENCON (now Victor Canada), the company that currently manages the MROO health benefits plan.

Working with Ted Stephens, then the President of Citadel Insurance (since folded into Manulife), they saw the need and the opportunity, and in 1984 the MROO Health Plan was born. Forty-five years later it provides coverage for over 15,000 MROO Members. At the time, a health benefits program marketed to retirees was unheard of; it became so popular that now several insurers offer similar plans. “We should have tried to patent that idea,” said Don ruefully. “But I’m very proud that, as of 1984, we were able to help gain health coverage for people who might have needed it and couldn’t get it elsewhere.”

Don was elected President of MROO in 1987 following his retirement in 1984. One of his major tasks was to pursue the appointment of a retiree representative to the OMERS board. That quest was ultimately successful in 1992 and there is now retiree representation on both OMERS boards. “Retirees now have a voice and a vote on what OMERS does,” said Don. “That is a very important element of protecting our pensions.”

History Makers: Ted Stephens, Citadel/Manulife Insurance (left) and Don MacLeod, MROO, in Hamilton (Right)

Don MacLeod in 1985 with Terry O'Connor, Alf Doherty from Thunder Bay MROO, and Lucy Nicholson.

Don worked for the City of Hamilton for 35 years and was heavily involved in the Cupe 167 union. In his retirement, Don was the President of MROO from 1987-2011 for 25 years.

He was married to his high-school sweetheart Audrey MacLeod for over 67 years. Audrey died in 2021 at the age of 89. He will be lovingly remembered by his twin sister Dorothy Ottoson, sons Daniel and Donald and grandchildren Jessica and Steven. 

A celebration of life for Audrey and Don will be held in the summer of 2024. Details to come.

Read the full obituary here in the Hamilton Spectator.

Don MacLeod and his family celebrating his 80th Birthday in 2010.

Previous Zone 3 Director Guilio Di Bacco (Right) thanks Don and Audrey MacLeod for their decades of service to MROO (2014).

Past President Bill Harford (Right), and President Emeritus Don MacLeod (Left)

Some of Don MacLeod's Contributions to MROO Over the Years:

1987

• Don MacLeod elected President.

1998

• Don MacLeod delivered letters of protest from 9000 OMERS pensioners to the OMERS office and gave Provincial officials a polite but firm earful. The result: 100% inflation protection guaranteed. Pensions to surviving spouses increased from 60% to 66%, the maximum allowed by law.

2005

• Don MacLeod and Dick McIntosh present MROO position to the Standing Committee of Ontario Legislature studying Bill 206.

2006

• Don MacLeod, Paul Bailey, and Bill Harford insisted that the Ontario Legislature provide for a retiree representative on the SC (The OMERS Sponsors Corporation Board).

2011

• After 25 years as MROO President, our organization builder Don MacLeod hands over the President reins to Bill Harford. Don remains on the Executive Committee as Past President.

2012

• Scholarship program adds $5,000 Don MacLeod Leadership Award

Since 2012, MROO has been distributing the Don MacLeod Leadership Award to exceptional students in Ontario who have a MROO relative. The award is given to a student who shows exceptional leadership, drive, initiative and who gives back to their community. In 2023, $65,000 in total has been distributed to post-secondary Ontario students who have received the Don MacLeod Leadership Award. MROO is delighted to give back to our members and their families and assist those exceptional students as they pursue their academic studies and future career goals.

Here at MROO, we can be proud of the Affordable, Comprehensive and Non-age-banded retiree health insurance that MROO - through Don MacLeod and Ted Stephens - essentially invented in 1984 and has sponsored ever since. In 2015 we enhanced the Annual Travel Emergency Health Plan by adding a choice in trip duration of 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 180 days – no limit to the number of trips per year. It was the best travel plan in the seniors market in terms of flexibility!

The MROO Board of Directors remembers Don as an exceptionally gentle man, with stunning blue eyes, who strived to make MROO the organization for OMERS retirees. His kindness and generosity will never be forgotten and his name will live on through this special MROO Scholarship and in the hearts of all those lives he has touched over the years.