A list, in chronological order, of some of the notable Canadians who died in 2013.
JANUARY
3 – Defensive lineman Bruce Smith, 63, who earned a Grey Cup ring with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1972 before finishing his CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts.
5 – Joseph-Aurele Plourde, 97, archbishop of Ottawa from 1967-89. He took part in the famous Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which brought in a number of major church reforms.
7 – Kent Abbott, 32, one-time guitarist for Canadian punk bands Grade and Somehow Hollow.
8 – Kenojuak Ashevak, 85, renowned Iniut artist whose work became a worldwide icon of the Canadian Arctic, at her home in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. She has been featured in galleries around the world and has been used on Canadian postage stamps.
8 – Katherine Wowchuk, 111 years and 145 days old, the oldest Manitoban, in a personal care home in Fisher Branch.
15 – Gordon Robertson, 95, a former Clerk of the Privy Council from 1963-75 who worked as a senior public servant under five different prime ministers. In 1976, he was named companion of the Order of Canada for his outstanding service to the country.
20 – Richard Garneau, 82, veteran Quebec sports journalist. He began reporting on the Olympics at the 1960 Summer Games in Rome. He would go on to cover 23 Olympic Games in all.
22 – Les Pavelick, 70, a Saskatchewan-born entertainer who created the ethnic comic character Metro and earned a Canadian gold record for his parody of popular Christmas songs, at his home in Yuma, Ariz.
23- Susan Douglas Rubes, 87, Austrian-born stage and screen actress and founder of Young People’s Theatre in Toronto. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 1975.
26 – Daurene Lewis, 69, the first black woman to be elected as a mayor in Canada. A seventh generation descendent of black loyalists, she became the mayor of Annapolis Royal, N.S., in 1984.
30 – Diane Marleau, 69, longtime Liberal MP for Sudbury, Ont., and former cabinet minister.
30 – Roger Phililps, 73, a Saskatchewan man who is credited with turning steel company Ipsco (now Evraz) into a major force.
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FEBRUARY
12 – Howard Cameron, 58, a well-respected aboriginal elder of the Beardy’s Okemasis First Nation near Duck Lake in Saskatchewan. He was a former Mountie stationed in various communities during his policing career and played an active role in the province’s child-welfare review.
15 – Pat Skinner, 78, a prominent human rights advocate in Nova Scotia’s black community, in a car crash in James River, N.S. She was a founding member of the Black Cultural Society of Nova Scotia and also an officer of the Human Rights Commission.
19 – Eugene Whelan, 88, a folksy farmer in a green Stetson who spent a dozen years as Canada’s flamboyant minister of agriculture.
24 – John Driftmier, 30, a Canadian director and cameraman, in a plane crash in Kenya while shooting footage for the documentary series “Dangerous Flights.”
25 – Herb Epp, 78, former Waterloo member of the Ontario legislature and mayor.
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MARCH
4 – Nick Ternette, 68, an outspoken social activist in Manitoba who battled for the rights of the less fortunate.
6 – Canadian country-folk legend Stompin’ Tom Connors, 77, whose toe-tapping musical spirit and fierce patriotism established him as one of Canada’s strongest cultural icons.
READ MORE: Stompin’ Tom Connors dies at 77
READ MORE: Remembering Stompin’ Tom Connors
7 – Max Ferguson, 89, CBC radio personality best known for his programs “The Max Ferguson Show” and “Rawhide” in a career that spanned more than 50 years.
10 – Kevin Parsons Sr., 82, a former Tory cabinet minister in Newfoundland and Labrador. As the first mayor of Flatrock, a town just north of St. John’s, he welcomed Pope John Paul II during the pontiff’s visit to the province in 1984.
11 – Doug Christie, 66, controversial Victoria lawyer who defended Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel of Toronto and Alberta teacher Jim Keegstra in a hate speech case.
13 – Bernard Roy, 73, a former chief of staff to prime minister Brian Mulroney and legal counsel to the Gomery sponsorship inquiry.
14 – Paul Rose, 69, a convicted terrorist who played a pivotal role in Quebec’s 1970 October Crisis as a member of the FLQ cell that kidnapped Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte in 1970. He later remained active in political causes.
16 – Hugh Tweedie, 71, prominent Cape Breton businessman.
17 – John McFadyen, 73, an accomplished broadcaster for more than 30 years.
18 – Frank D. Selke Jr., 83, son of former Montreal Canadiens general manager Frank S. Selke, who followed in his father’s footsteps as an executive and publicity director of the hockey club from 1951 to 1965. He became involved in the Special Olympics in 1969, serving as an ambassador and fundraiser with the organization for the rest of his life.
25 – Wayne Fleming, 62, a longtime NHL assistant coach who was part of three Olympic coaching staffs for Canada, winning a silver medal in Albertville in 1992 and a gold medal in Salt Lake City in 2002.
26 – Ron Lancaster Jr., 50, a former CFL assistant coach and the son of Canadian Football Hall of Famer Ron Lancaster.
27 – Jay Smith, 34, guitarist with the band that backs Halifax rocker Matt Mays.
27 – Yvonne Brill, 88, a Winnipeg born rocket scientist who invented a propulsion system to help keep communications satellites from falling out of orbit, in Princeton, N.J.
29 – Ralph Klein, 70, the popular, outspoken premier who championed the slaying of Alberta’s multibillion-dollar debt. He retired as premier in 2006 after leading the Progressive Conservative party for 14 years and winning four successive majority governments.
READ MORE: Ralph Klein remembered in Calgary
READ MORE: Ralph Klein’s most memorable quotes
29 – Art Phillips, 82, Vancouver mayor in the early 1970s.
30 – Former Ontario New Democrat Peter Kormos, 60, after a colourful political career in provincial politics spanning more than two decades. A criminal lawyer by trade, he was first elected to the legislature in 1988.
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APRIL
1 – Acclaimed Toronto writer and editor Kildare Dobbs, 89, who co-founded the Canadian magazine Tamarack Review and won a Governor General’s Literary Award.
3- Robert Elgie, 84, former Conservative cabinet minister, lawyer, surgeon and chairman of Ontario Press Council.
6 – Renowned Canadian sportscaster Johnny Esaw, 87.
11 – Clarence (Shorty) Jenkins, 77, the iconic curling icemaker known for his customary pink cowboy hat.
14 – Dom Cardillo, 82, mayor of Kitchener for 12 years until his retirement in 1994.
14 – Canadian non-fiction author A.S.A. Harrison, 65, just months before the release of her debut novel “The Silent Wife.”
16 – Cape Breton’s first lady of song Rita MacNeil, 68.
29 – Rev. Donald Campbell, 88, the founding president of the school that later became Cape Breton University.
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MAY
8 – East Coast producer Bill Langstroth, 81, who hosted the CBC-TV country music series “Singalong Jubilee” and was once married to country singer Anne Murray.
9 – Paddy Gregg, 80, a longtime CBC journalist who covered stories around the world for the national broadcaster.
11 – Doug Finley, 66, the organizational “pitbull” behind Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s rise to power, built a reputation in conservative circles for fierce loyalty and prodigious work ethic.
11 – Ted Blowes, 76, the mayor of Stratford, Ont., from 1978-88.
12 – Peter Worthington, 86, the veteran newspaperman who co-founded the Toronto Sun.
14 – Ray Guy, 74, a beloved journalist and playwright known across Newfoundland and Labrador for his wit and intelligence.
16 – Geoff Gowan, 83, a member of the Order of Canada and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame for his contribution to coaching and a longtime voice of track and field in Canada.
17 – Elijah Harper, 64, who became a symbol of power for Canadian aboriginals when he scuttled the Meech Lake constitutional accord in 1990.
19 – Veteran newspaper editor Neil Reynolds, 72.
29 – Henry Morgentaler, 90, polarizing doctor who helped overturn Canada’s abortion law in 1988.
READ MORE: Abortion crusader Henry Morgentaler dead at 90
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JUNE
1 – Jane Purves, 63, former Nova Scotia cabinet minister and veteran Halifax Chronicle Herald editor.
2 – Mario Bernardi, 82, the founding conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.
18 – Garde Gardom, 88, British Columbia’s 26th lieutenant governor. He was a member of the legislative assembly, cabinet minister and provincial representative to London and Europe.
24 – Andy Scott, 58, a former New Brunswick Liberal MP and cabinet minister who was known for his interest in social policy. In 1993, he won a seat in Fredericton, was re-elected in 1997 and appointed solicitor general by Jean Chretien.
25 – Bryan Cantley, 66, a former reporter and editor who oversaw the National Newspaper Awards for many years.
27 – NHL player agent Don Baizley, 71. He was a mediator during the 2004-05 NHL lockout and was considered one of the most influential men in the sport. He was a member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.
READ MORE: Hockey stars join hundreds to bid NHL agent Baizley farewell
29 – Jack (Jocko) Gotta, 83, a former Canadian Football League player, coach and general manager.
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JULY
2 – Optician Paul Lorieau, 71, the longtime national anthem singer for the Edmonton Oilers.
9 – Quebec writer Gaetan Soucy, 54. He is best-known novel was “La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes,” which was translated into English as “The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches.”
13 – Canadian actor Cory Monteith, 31, who rose to stardom playing the reluctant quarterback-turned-singer Finn Hudson in the hit TV musical series “Glee,” from an overdose of heroin and alcohol combined.
READ MORE: ‘Glee’ star Cory Monteith found dead in Vancouver
16 – Celebrated painter Alex Colville, 92, whose meticulously crafted scenes of everyday life established him as one of Canada’s most well-known modern artists, at home in Wolfville, N.S.
READ MORE: Canadian painter Alex Colville has died at age 92
17 – Widely respected Canadian jazz musician Peter Appleyard, 84, a master of the vibraphone who shared the stage with such luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Mel Torme and Ella Fitzgerald.
29 – Rocky Alan Jones, 71, a human rights crusader and prominent civil rights advocate in Nova Scotia. He was named to the Order of Nova Scotia in 2010.
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AUGUST
5 – Former NHL player Shawn Burr, 47. He was making progress in a fight against leukemia, but he died from brain trauma after a fall at his Detroit-area home.
5 – James Gray, 52, a former keyboard player with Canadian country rock band Blue Rodeo. He suffered a fatal heart attack while walking home after a performance in Toronto.
7 – Tony Pawson, 60, a world-renowned Canadian researcher whose discovery about how cells talk to each other transformed scientists’ fundamental understanding of cancer and many other diseases.
12 – Paul O’Neill, 84, a Newfoundland-born actor, writer and historian. He was the founding president of the province’s writer’s guild and a recipient of both the Order of Canada and the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.
15 – Robert Taylor, 73, whose images of polar bears, musk ox, beluga whales, great grey owls and prairie bison made him one of North America’s foremost wildlife photographers.
16 – Former CBC television host and journalist Roy Bonisteel, 83. He hosted the current affairs program Man Alive from 1967 to 1989 and became a public speaker, writer and citizenship judge. He had been battling cancer.
30 – Lotfi Mansouri, 84, a former general director of the Canadian Opera Company (1976-88) and credited with boosting the organization’s reputation abroad.
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SEPTEMBER
5 – Michel Page, 63, a former Liberal cabinet minister in Quebec.
14 – Sig Gutsche, 63, former Calgary Stampeders owner from 1996-2001.
18 – Dr. Donald Low, 68, one of the key figures in Canada’s battle against the 2003 SARS outbreak.
READ MORE: SARS doctor Donald Low urges Canadians to legalize assisted suicide in posthumous message
18 – Pieter Weeber, 77, long-time mayor, councillor and school trustee of the northwestern British Columbia District of New Hazelton.
20 – Anne Lazar Mirvish, 94, sculptor and wife of the late Toronto theatre impresario “Honest” Ed Mirvish.
22 – Dave Nichol, 73, long-time Loblaws pitchman who appeared in TV ads for the grocery chain’s President’s Choice and No Name brands in the ’80s and ’90s.
25 – Philip Lapp, 85, one of the co-founders of SPAR Aerospace which built the first Canadarm.
26 – Denis Brodeur, 82, the father of star NHL goalie Martin Brodeur, who enjoyed a lengthy career as one of Canada’s most successful sports photographers. He was one of two photographers to capture the iconic image of Paul Henderson celebrating the winning goal of the 1972 Canada-Soviet summit series.
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OCTOBER
5 – Fred Mifflin, 75, former Liberal cabinet minister representing the Newfoundland riding of Bonavista-Trinity-Conception after a distinguished 32-year career in the military, rising to the rank of rear admiral.
8 – Paul Desmarais, 86, one of Canada’s most influential business tycoons and a strong federalist. He led Power Corp. of Canada as its chairman and chief executive from 1968 to 1996 before passing the reins to his sons.
WATCH: Desmarais family gives touching eulogy at funeral of Paul Demarais Sr.
17 – Rene Simpson, 47, a former player, coach and longtime captain of Canada’s Fed Cup tennis team, in Chicago. She was inducted into the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011.
17 – Dr. Maxwell House, 87, former lieutenant-governor of Newfoundland and Labrador from 1997 to 2002.
18 – Allan Stanley, 87, Hall of Fame defenceman who won four Stanley Cup titles with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
25 – Paul Reichmann, 83, a former real estate mogul who, with his brothers, turned Toronto tile company Olympia and York Developments into a major international property developer that became the name behind some of the best-known projects in the world before eventually going bankrupt in the early 1990s.
27 – Ernie Campbell, 72, former Musqueam First Nation Chief.
30 – Celebrated Canadian tightrope walker Jay Cochrane, 69.
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NOVEMBER
15 – Jack Munro, 82, a titan of the British Columbia labour movement for half a century.
17 – Chris Hayes, 62, Cape Breton Post senior editor and reporter.
18 – Peter Wintonick, 60, a renowned Canadian documentary filmmaker with a career that spanned more than 35 years.
21 – Maurice (Mad Dog) Vachon, 84, one of Canada’s most colourful wrestlers and who was known for his trash talking and trademark gravelly voice.
24 – Lou Hyndman, 78, one of six Alberta Progressive Conservatives voted in as opposition members in 1967. Four years later, the Tories under Peter Lougheed won a majority government, and the party has been in power ever since.
28 – Former senator Jean-Louis Roux, 90, who was forced to resign as Quebec lieutenant-governor in 1996 after admitting he wore a Nazi swastika as a youth. He was a prominent member of Quebec’s theatre community for decades.
30 – Cliff Chadderton, 94, who served as chief executive officer of The War Amps until 2009. He was a D-Day veteran and lost part of his right leg in October 1944 while in command of a company of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, battling for the Scheldt Estuary in Belgium and Holland.
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DECEMBER
3 – Reginald Maloney, 72, former chief of the Shubenacadie Band in Nova Scotia. He became a prominent native leader during his time in office as he fought in the courts for recognition of the Mi’kmaq band’s aboriginal and treaty rights.
9 – Bill Jessome, 88, long-time Nova Scotia broadcast journalist.
17 – Frank Sheehan, 80, a former member of the Ontario legislature who served one term in the Progressive Conservative government of former premier Mike Harris, from 1995 to 1999.
21 – Edgar M. Bronfman Sr., the Canadian-born billionaire and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress, at the age of 84. Bronfman made his fortune with his family’s Seagram’s liquor empire, joining the family business in 1957 and taking over as chairman and CEO in 1971.
22 – Broadcaster and businessman Geoff Stirling, a trailblazer in Newfoundland and Labrador who founded multiple media outlets in his home province, at the age of 92.
23 – Vito Rizzuto, the reputed Mafia boss who led a powerful criminal organization in Montreal with tentacles that reached beyond Canada’s borders, in hospital of natural causes. Rizzuto, 67, returned to Canada in 2012 after spending six years in a U.S. prison.
27 – John Matheson, a former MP and Second World War veteran, in Kingston, Ont. He was often referred to as the father of Canada’s now-familiar Maple Leaf flag as he led a multi-party committee that chose the new flag to replace the old Red Ensign in 1965.
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