BA Sc., P. Eng., MS (Tor), MSc (Strath), MD, FRCSC


Ian James Harrington, my father, came from tough stuff. His mother Anne, a wee lass from Glasgow, Scotland, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Canada on her own at the age of 18 on a ship that would later be sunk by the Germans. Dad’s father, William John (Bill), was born in East Battersea, London, immigrating to Canada for a better life after the early death of his father. After settling in Kingston, my grandfather’s strong sense of service led him to join the peacetime Canadian Army where he cut quite a dashing figure in his uniform and caught the attention of my grandmother Anne. They married in Kingston and my father was later born in Ottawa in 1935. When Dad was only five, my grandfather felt the call to military service again and voluntarily enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery when WWII began, eventually training as a medic. I was often told that it was my grandfather’s work in the medical corps that first sparked my father’s interest in medicine. It also instilled in Dad an awareness and appreciation for the sacrifices that could be made by others, especially those who served in the military.

Dad was a polio survivor. It struck him at the age of two. I remember Dad telling me he had been separated from grandma and grandpa to convalesce and that they weren’t allowed to visit him. My Dad remembered being held up to a window by a nurse so that my grandmother Anne could see him and wave to him. Dad didn’t talk much about having had polio. It certainly didn’t prevent him from any of his athletic pursuits, including playing football for his high school team or lacrosse during his university years. However, polio did have a profound effect on Dad’s future career in medicine. He would later write theses and articles filled with groundbreaking research on knee joints, gait analyses and coauthor a book on biomechanics. He would specialize his medical training to become an orthopaedic surgeon, dedicating his work to improving the mobility of his patients. Polio also made him a lifelong advocate for vaccination. Maybe most importantly, polio gave Dad a deeply empathic and personal understanding of his patients’ orthopaedic ailments.

After the war, my grandfather was one of the lucky ones who returned home. My Dad became a big brother to his new baby sister Mary. I think anytime I heard Dad talking on the phone with my Aunt Mary he could always get her giggling. He always knew exactly how to tease her. My Uncle Barry, Dad’s brother-in-law, would definitely agree. One Christmas, when my grandparents didn’t have enough money for presents, Dad went out and bought presents for my Aunt Mary with his own money, making sure she would have gifts to open - just one example of my father’s tendency towards generosity and looking out for others.

Dad was academically gifted to say the least. Before studying medicine, he graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Toronto, as going to medical school seemed out of reach at the time and an engineering degree more practical. As a young engineer Dad helped build two bridges in southern Ontario for the Department of Highways and it was during this time living at the YMCA in London, Ontario that he met the love of his life, my mother Jeanne.

After marrying in Corunna, Mom and Dad had us four kids: John, Rob, Kristine (me) and Karen. Having experienced a childhood filled with many moves and a father away for years during the war, I think what Dad wanted above all things was to provide his children with an incredibly stable home life, which he absolutely did, happily settling down in Don Mills in a house often filled with laughter. He always instilled in us the value of education, wanted us to go to university and was very proud of all our academic accomplishments.

Dad was an amazing grandpa to Matt, Luke (Hillary), Andrew, Elizabeth, Kendra, Cynthia, Danielle, Sophie and Gabriel. He was very proud of all nine of them and always wanted to hear about what was going on in their lives. He loved driving out to see and chauffeur his grandkids to their hockey games, sometimes driving home alone well past midnight on the 401 or 407. He loved photography and getting action shots of all the grandkids’ cannonballs, big splashes and antics in the backyard pool. I think he tried to create special memories with all of them. My Mom pointed out to me one day that Dad never got to know his grandparents. Three of them had died before he was born and his one remaining grandmother had remained in England. I think he felt he was so fortunate to have been able to meet all his grandchildren, watch them grow, watch them succeed and be a part of their lives.

Dad was the hardest working man I have ever known. His career in medicine spanned more than 50 years. Dad served as the Toronto East General’s Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery from 1990 to 2000, its Chief of Surgery from 1993 to 2001 and as Chief of Staff from 1982 to 1987. In 2019 he was extremely honoured to have been nominated to the University of Toronto Division of Orthopaedic Surgery Hall of Fame. He was so very happy and pleased when Mom and all of us kids were able to come watch him accept the award.

Dad loved being a doctor. Sometimes when he came home from work in a great mood I could tell it was because he felt he had really helped someone that day. He loved talking to his patients and finding out about their lives. He loved being a part of the hospital community. He only stopped working at the hospital’s fracture clinic in early 2020 at the age of 84 because his colleagues were worried for his health with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than two years later and with great reluctance, Dad finally closed his office in June 2022 at the age of 86, with the help of his secretary of 48 years, Jan.

In his well deserved time away from work, Dad enjoyed complaining about the Leafs and the Bills with Rob and talking “shop” with John and his son-in-law Mike. His interest in computers was aided by his daughter-in-law Donna. He read voraciously, especially about Canadian military history. His summer holidays were often spent in Tobermory at the family cottage, where he had many, many laughs with his sister-in-law Joanne, brother-in-law Harold and cousins-in-law Linda and Bill. It was also quite often a time to visit with his niece Kelly, her husband Kevin, nephew Skip, his wife Nancy and great nephews Cam, Josh, Jake and Tyson. A self taught artist, Dad loved to depict the beauty of the Bruce Peninsula in paintings that our family will forever treasure.

Always an achiever, Dad reached major goals even in his final days. In May we were able to celebrate Mom and Dad’s 60th wedding anniversary for which they received congratulatory messages from Premier Doug Ford, Prime Minister Mark Carney, Governor General Mary Simon, as well as King Charles and Queen Camilla. Dad often told us he wanted to live into his 90s like his mother. Thankfully, we were able to help him celebrate his 90th this past September.

We thought we were going to lose Dad last January and many times since. As his daughter I am grateful for every extra laugh, every extra I love you the last year allowed. I am grateful to have had such a father. I am grateful he is now at peace, but I will miss him terribly in all the days that follow.



Thank you to the doctors and staff at North York General Hospital, Cummer Lodge and Sunnybrook Hospital who looked after Dad.

A private family funeral will be held Friday January 23, 2026.