Reeh Taylor

With great sadness we announce that our father and grandfather passed gently on the afternoon of December 2nd 2015.

Dad was predeceased by Pamela, his wife of 67 years, and their daughter Alyson Gail Taylor. He is survived by his children, Paul, Judith, Tim and Mark; their spouses, Barbara, Paul, Jeri and Danna; and their children, Christopher (Amy), Andrew (Lisa), Colin (Katie), Laura (Laing), Derek (Stephanie), Carmen, Renee, Christian, Sebastian, Chloe (Ryan), and Ava – each of whom was a source of enormous pride. He is also survived by Mum’s sister, Heather Williams, in Cardiff.

Dad was born on January 13, 1924, in Forest, Ontario, but moved to the United Kingdom with his parents while still an infant. Just after his eighth birthday, he joined the Choir School at Westminster Abbey in London, singing at services of worship and special events such as oratorios, Christmas Eve services, royal weddings, and the coronation of King George VI. On Christmas Eve, after the usual services at the Abbey, the whole choir, men and boys, would walk in procession across the square to what was then Westminster Hospital, and go from ward to ward there singing carols to patients and staff. Even as a child Dad could not help but be moved by the joy of folks sitting or lying in bed, tears of happiness on their cheeks, and the immediacy of those fond emotions stuck with him his entire life.

After 5½ years at the Abbey (during which time he became Head Boy), Dad’s voice broke and, as he said, “I was of no further use to the choir”. He then attended Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex, eventually passing his Oxford and Cambridge School Leaving Certificate at 16½ years of age. Having set his mind on the practice of law, but too young to be articled, he enrolled at the University of South Wales and Monmouth in Cardiff for a one year Course Before Articles. He then spent a few months articling with a London firm with the Dickensian name of Messrs. Bull & Bull. He enrolled in the Law Society’s School of Law in the Fall of 1941, but completed only the first part of his course there before joining the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday. It was while “fire-watching” in London that Dad came to know a man who was to become one of his best friends, Ray Vidler, from Winnipeg.

Dad was posted initially to Chatham and Portsmouth, and later followed the first landing forces into Northern France. He spent the rest of his wartime service in India training to fight in the Pacific arena. Fortunately the war ended before he was called into harm’s way. He decommissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant in 1946 and returned to the old firm in London. Before too long, Dad resolved to return to the land of his birth and, knowing only one person in Canada, made his way to Winnipeg, renting a suite at the Florence Apartments on Arlington Street. Mum joined him a few months later and they were married on August 2nd 1947. Five children followed between 1948 and 1960, one in the midst of the 1950 flood, and at least one other during a blizzard.

After arriving in Winnipeg Dad worked at the Great-West Life for a short time before starting law school. In those days the Law School was housed in the old Law Courts building. Law students attended classes in the morning and worked in the office in the afternoon and evening – long hours, often seven days per week. Dad articled with the firm of Johnston Garson Forrester Davison, and was called to the Bar in June 1951. In 1966 he joined Charles Huband, Bill Norrie and Scott Wright in the firm of Richardson & Company, and spent many happy years there. In 1979 he and D’Arcy McCaffrey and a group of their partners and associates founded Taylor McCaffrey.

In 1994 Dad was appointed the first Chief Commissioner of the Automobile Injury Compensation Appeal Commission, ultimately for a term of 7 years. He was delighted to rejoin his friends and colleagues at Taylor McCaffrey in 2001 as Senior Counsel, and continued practising actively and enthusiastically until just a few weeks before his passing, typically working six days per week, accepting new clients, avidly attending continuing professional development seminars, with an abiding interest in the lives of the younger lawyers and staff.

For Dad the word “profession” necessarily implies public service – and no less a public service because it might incidentally be a means to a livelihood. Competence, honour, loyalty to one’s clients and colleagues and fellow members of the profession were, for him, givens. But voluntarily contributing one’s time, skill, passion – not to mention money – to one’s community, these things he considered hallmarks of a truly honourable calling.

And to these things Dad gave of himself generously.

Throughout his career Dad dedicated himself to the twin causes of making the law more accessible to the people of Manitoba and improving the administration of justice. He played leadership and advisory roles on many committees relating to Legal Aid Manitoba, estate planning and medico-legal issues, and community legal education. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in the New Years’ Honours List of 1971 and, to honour his active involvement in the legal profession and community, received the Manitoba Bar Associations’ Distinguished Service Award in 1993. He was a Life Bencher of the Law Society, served terms as Director of the Manitoba Law Foundation and President of the Estate Planning Council of Manitoba, and was involved in many facets of the work of the Manitoba Bar Association. He marked 50 years of practice in 2001 and, along with a small group with the same tenure, was honoured by the Law Society of Manitoba. He was the Director of the Small Business Law Clinic at the Faculty of Law, providing mentorship and instruction to law students as well as advice and guidance to small business operators. He served as a Director and Member of the Community Legal Education Association and in 2015 (its 30th anniversary year) was honoured to receive CLEA’s Advocate of Public Legal Education Award.

Dad also gave of himself in a fulsome and productive way as a member of the Advisory Board of the Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone, and was instrumental in the creation of the Downtown BIZ itself. He served as President and Director of the Downtown Winnipeg Association, as Chair of the Volunteer Bureau of Winnipeg, as Director of the Welfare Planning Council, and Chairman of the Diocesan Council for Social Service of the Anglican Diocese of Rupertsland. Dad enjoyed a long association with the Winnipeg Executives Association, including a term as President, and was eventually made an Honorary Life Member. He served as a Director on the Board of Prairie Public Television and also on the Board of Winnipeg Crime Stoppers, becoming an Honorary Member. He felt privileged to act as Fundraising Chair for L’Arche in Winnipeg.

Dad was legal counsel to the University of Winnipeg, and helped to produce The University of Winnipeg Act. During that time he also developed alliances with other solicitors who provided advice to Canadian universities. He was involved in the founding of the Canadian Association of University Solicitors and, later, served as its President and as a member of its U.S. counterpart. In 2007 he was admitted as a Fellow of the University of Winnipeg.

Dad was a longstanding member of the Manitoba Club and proud of its honourable and evolving traditions. He served as President in 1985. Shortly before his passing, it brought him great pleasure to receive word that the Club had made him an Honorary Life Member.

Dad was a driving force behind the creation of the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden. He served as President (and eventually Director Emeritus) of the Manitoba Opera Association, was Founding President (and then President Emeritus and Member of the Advisory Board) of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Co-Chair of the Eckhardt-Grammaté Music Competition, and a Founding Board Member of the Virtuosi Concerts (MB) Inc.

Dad considered himself blessed by his family, his many friends, all of the men and women at Taylor McCaffrey, his colleagues in the legal profession, and this city. And, being Reeh, he was grateful for a life full of music, literature and poetry. He had a poet’s soul, light-hearted come what may, and thought a life without music hardly worth living. In his view, he had a multitude of good reasons to get up every morning and to greet the world, as he put it, “with at least the semblance of a smile”.

Dad shared Jean Vanier’s values of friendship and fraternity, and was ever mindful of the needs of the disadvantaged and marginalized in our society. He stood up for the right things, led by example, was respectful, considerate and compassionate of others, gave credit where credit was due (and sometimes even when it wasn’t!), reminded himself constantly of the people and things for which he was grateful – and actually said so out loud. He enjoyed a good meal, a decent bottle of wine, collegiality and conversation, and loved the English language. He did not sweat the small stuff but kept his remarkable sense of humour, remaining curious and genuinely open-minded about the world around him. He loved his wife and children, and everyone they brought into his acquaintance. He tried simply, consciously and every day to be a good person. His was a truly generous spirit and a life of inestimable achievement, profoundly well-lived.

Dad received excellent care from Doctors Wiebe, Kroeker, and the rest of the staff on the 8th Floor Palliative Care Ward at the St. Boniface Hospital and, in short time he was there, repeatedly expressed his appreciation for their efforts. We express our thanks too.

We will be celebrating Dad’s life with a party at the Fort Garry Hotel on Friday, January 15, 2016, from 4 to 6 p.m. We invite his friends and ours to join us for a glass of wine (or two), some hors d’oeuvres, and a few reminiscences.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution to Virtuosi Concerts (MB) Inc., the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra Inc. , or Manitoba Opera Association, Inc., or another organization of your choosing. That would have gladdened Dad’s heart, and will lift ours.