Born in Wales Donald died amongst family in Mississauga on June 13, 2026 at the age of 90. He was predeceased by his wonderful wife Patricia, whom he thought of every day, mother of his three sons that he loved dearly, Ian, Glyn (Elsinore, and her children, Erielle/Sky/Evelyn, Reilly, Randall and Rowell) and Craig (Michelle). He leaves granddaughters Rhyelin and Anna, grandsons Nolan and Nathaniel, and niece Lynda Reeder (Tommy) and nephew Clive Perriman (Phyllis) in the U.K. Dad never forgot Donald and the late David Canning, Canadian brothers from Downsview, Ontario, who dad had met while they were having a working holiday in the U.K. and who sold him on the idea of Canada as a good place to live and work. How right they were. Dad stayed with their family for his first few weeks in Canada and experienced cottage life for the first time.
He joined the CANDU design team of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), a federal crown corporation, at Sheridan Research Park, Mississauga, Ontario, in 1967 and retired from AECL in 2003. The timing was perfect since he was there as a Section Head, Process Control, at the beginning of the design work on the lead CANDU 6 projects (Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station in New Brunswick and Gentilly 2 Nuclear Generating Station in Quebec) in the 1970s at the time when the technical decisions had to be made. He moved on to other positions within AECL and was promoted to Principal Engineer in 1981.
Some of the positions he held at AECL were, Section Head - responsible for the design of control systems for the primary heat transport system and for steam generator level and pressure control of the first CANDU 6; Manager - Control Engineering Cernavoda (some CANDU 6 units in Romania); Manager - Plant Control and Safety Systems Branch; Manager - Reactor and Process Control Branch; Project Manager and Technical Team Leader - CANDU Owners Group (COG) initiative to investigate coincident small loss of coolant events and mysterious relief valve openings in years 1994 - 1995. He was also a member of on-site teams that investigated small loss of coolant events at CANDU stations in Pakistan (1976) and in South Korea (1984).
Prior to joining AECL he had spent five years as a Professional Engineer in the Technical Department of the Orenda Engines division of A. V. Roe Canada Limited (later to become, Orenda Limited, a Division of Hawker Siddeley Canada Limited), at Malton, Ontario. He worked as a technical consultant on projects from clients inhouse and outside of Orenda. Before coming to Canada from the U.K. in 1962 he was with the de Havilland Aircraft Company, Manor Road site, at Hatfield, England, in the Thermodynamics Department. He served a Student Apprenticeship in the U.K. aerospace industry and graduated from the University of Wales, Cardiff, with a B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering with a postgraduate M.A.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
When we were growing up summers were spent at Port Elgin on Lake Huron where mum’s mum and dad, Betty and Alex Hamilton, would rent a cottage for a few weeks as close to the water and those sandy beaches as possible. The nearby Saugeen Golf Club attracted grandpa Hamilton more than the water since he was an avid golfer (from Edinburgh no less) and was a member of the Toronto Golf Club. Dad’s forte was more miniature golf but he gamely went along with grandpa when requested with eye rolls between him and our mum. Of course, we could not leave Port Elgin without going to Southampton to buy some freshly caught whitefish to take home.
During retirement dad spent time with his family and continued running competitively with the Etobicoke Track and Field Club in Toronto as a middle-distance runner, 400 metres track to half-marathon road, and cross-country, until forced to stop because of an arthritic knee. He enjoyed watching English Premier League and Championship League soccer but was choosey on which teams he watched - they had to have at least one Wales international player. He also penned many articles for the internet on nuclear power and the electricity grid. By dad’s request cremation without a service has already taken place and there will be no church service or celebration of life. Any donations to Trillium Health Partners Foundation or to March of Dimes Canada.