Seymour was born in Toronto, downtown on Grace St, where the Jews of Toronto came from. He grew up not far from Sheila. In fact they went to the same school for 3 years, Grace Street Public school. He then went on to Harbord Collegiate for high school. Then UofT and Osgood Law School.

He was 19 when he met Sheila. She was 16. They married in 1956. Doing the math, that means they were married almost 61 years. They got married during Christmas vacation because Sheila was a teacher and that was when she could get time off.

Together, they had 4 children and 9 grandchildren and even one great-grandchild.

He was a lawyer who ran his own general practice for most of his life. We all finally convinced him to gave it up when he was 75. You could see his ethics through his work. He was well respected by everyone he worked with: other lawyers, clients, judges. Acting in a divorce, when his clients just wanted to fight, we heard him say “look, you can feed your kids or mine.”

Alongside the law, he also managed to squeeze in a mail-order record company and fabric company, as well as a career in politics.

Things that we we learned from our father:

* live your life fully. Do what you enjoy. It doesn’t have to be flashy, you can still be responsible but do the things you enjoy. Plays, movies, dinner, whatever.

* … and don’t do the things you don’t want to do … as long as you can manage it; like cooking or cleaning.

* kids don’t have to get in the way of living your life fully. Bring them with.

* the world should be explored. News and politics were always primary topics and it helped to be, not just informed, but ready to analyze. We knew that after every movie, we’d be asked “where did they get the title.”

* travel…every chance you get …and immerse yourself when you are there. For Seymour, it was a passion. When we traveled, we spent every minute exploring.

* you can’t complain about something unless you’re prepared to do something about it. When asked why he bothered with politics, he said “Doing nothing gets nothing done. You have to at least try and do something.” A strong memory of our dad in politics was when he ran for president of the Ontario federal liberal party. He was the underdog but when his rival used unkind and divisive language against him, my dad got angry, threw away his speech, and gave the most passionate ad lib speech about doing things the right way. He won.

* you don’t get things if you don’t ask. That means discounts where none are offered, tickets to sold out shows, compensation when someone impacts you. Or getting something special.

* most important, do the right thing. He was a feminist before it was trendy. He was on the side of justice, not just professionally. He never talked about “Doing the right thing.” He just did it. It was in the way he treated people, and what he would do for them.

He will me greatly missed. But will always be in our hearts and decisions.

Memorial donations may be made to Parkinson’s Society Canada (416) 227-9700 or to Markham Stouffville Hospital (905) 472-7373 ext. 6341