In memory of
Peter Hayden
August 29, 1938 - November 15, 2025
Peter Hayden
1938-2025
Surrounded by his loving family, Peter Reginald Hayden, Q.C., 87, died peacefully on November 15, 2025, in Toronto.
Peter was predeceased by his wife of 58 years, Lee Burnham Hayden, who passed away 18 months to the day before him. He is survived by his children, Katie Hayden (Scott Jeffery) and Jenny Hayden (Lisa Roman), and grandchildren Tessa and Zoë, and Rafa and Gabriel. He will also be dearly missed by his sisters, Lynda Diakiw (John) and Diane Bews, and his nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Peter was born on August 29, 1938, to Grace (née McCarthy) and Robert Hayden in Peterborough, Ont. He grew up surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins in Peterborough and Port Hope, and was especially fond of his Aunt Isobel (later on, visiting with her often in “the country”). He spent his youth in East City playing baseball, hockey and lots of boogie-woogie piano in a rock & roll band (he made a cool $100 working a New Year’s Eve party in 1956).
Peter’s teen and university summers were spent working the line at Quaker Oats and GM factories, and waiting tables (with his sisters and brother-in-law John) and running the clubhouse (with friend Peter Harris) at Fern Resort in Orillia. Family lore has it that Peter and Peter had to turn local teenager Gordon Lightfoot and his guitar away at the Fern gates one summer night.
After high school, Peter won a scholarship to Queen’s University, where he received his Bachelor of Commerce. At Queen’s, he was AMS President, and he later became a dedicated Queen’s alumnus, returning annually for homecoming, and ultimately encouraging daughter Jenny and granddaughter Tessa to attend his alma mater. After Queen’s, he earned a Bachelor of Laws at Dalhousie University, and a Master of International Law at Harvard. All along the way, Peter made lifelong friends with whom he often reconnected in life, work and community.
While completing his master’s, Peter met Lee, who was teaching elementary school in Boston. She laughingly recalled how the gregarious “Canuck” hogged her guitar all night and left beer stains on it at the folk party where they met … and the rest is history. The pair married in Cambridge, Mass., in July 1965 and moved to Toronto soon after.
Peter practised corporate law in Toronto for 50+ years, starting his career at Blake, Cassels & Graydon, and ultimately opening McDonald & Hayden with John McDonald in the early 1970s. He specialized in foreign investment in Canada, assisting numerous international companies in setting up in the country, and publishing the monthly periodical “Foreign Investment in Canada” for almost 50 years.
Outside of the office, Peter put his talents — legal and otherwise — to work volunteering for the Downtown Church Workers’ Association, Street Haven, the Oriole Park Association and numerous political campaigns, federal, provincial and local (perhaps most excitingly, his friend Joe Clark’s run for PM in 1979). He also supported various endeavours for his daughters, from coaching the Wigglesworth Wildcats ringette team (complete with NHL-level swearing!) to accompanying several rainy Oriole Park School camping trips to Algonquin Park.
Other highlights of his decades in the North Toronto community include hosting Christmas Eve parties at #50, visiting with neighbours at the Eastbourne Maple Syrup Festival, co-hosting epic 1950s rock & roll parties at Eglinton Park, and late-night walks with his intrepid mini poodles, Bonnie and Lucy.
Most of all, his family will miss his daily bird-feeder reports, listening to him play Christmas carols and ragtime on the piano, boogieboarding with him on Nantucket’s South Shore, waking up to a jumbo pot of his extra-strong coffee, birding at sundown in the Ding Darling on Sanibel, and his loving, optimistic, can-do approach to life and parenting.
The family would like to thank both the dedicated staff from Home Instead, who helped care for Peter and Lee at home for several years, as well as the amazing staff in the Seaton Courtyard Community at Christie Gardens, who most recently created a loving home away from home for Peter.
A celebration of life will be held Sunday, January 4 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Funeral Centre at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, 375 Mt. Pleasant Rd., Toronto, M4T 2V8.
If desired, memorial donations may be made to Community Music Schools of Toronto or the Out of the Cold Foundation.
1938-2025
Surrounded by his loving family, Peter Reginald Hayden, Q.C., 87, died peacefully on November 15, 2025, in Toronto.
Peter was predeceased by his wife of 58 years, Lee Burnham Hayden, who passed away 18 months to the day before him. He is survived by his children, Katie Hayden (Scott Jeffery) and Jenny Hayden (Lisa Roman), and grandchildren Tessa and Zoë, and Rafa and Gabriel. He will also be dearly missed by his sisters, Lynda Diakiw (John) and Diane Bews, and his nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Peter was born on August 29, 1938, to Grace (née McCarthy) and Robert Hayden in Peterborough, Ont. He grew up surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins in Peterborough and Port Hope, and was especially fond of his Aunt Isobel (later on, visiting with her often in “the country”). He spent his youth in East City playing baseball, hockey and lots of boogie-woogie piano in a rock & roll band (he made a cool $100 working a New Year’s Eve party in 1956).
Peter’s teen and university summers were spent working the line at Quaker Oats and GM factories, and waiting tables (with his sisters and brother-in-law John) and running the clubhouse (with friend Peter Harris) at Fern Resort in Orillia. Family lore has it that Peter and Peter had to turn local teenager Gordon Lightfoot and his guitar away at the Fern gates one summer night.
After high school, Peter won a scholarship to Queen’s University, where he received his Bachelor of Commerce. At Queen’s, he was AMS President, and he later became a dedicated Queen’s alumnus, returning annually for homecoming, and ultimately encouraging daughter Jenny and granddaughter Tessa to attend his alma mater. After Queen’s, he earned a Bachelor of Laws at Dalhousie University, and a Master of International Law at Harvard. All along the way, Peter made lifelong friends with whom he often reconnected in life, work and community.
While completing his master’s, Peter met Lee, who was teaching elementary school in Boston. She laughingly recalled how the gregarious “Canuck” hogged her guitar all night and left beer stains on it at the folk party where they met … and the rest is history. The pair married in Cambridge, Mass., in July 1965 and moved to Toronto soon after.
Peter practised corporate law in Toronto for 50+ years, starting his career at Blake, Cassels & Graydon, and ultimately opening McDonald & Hayden with John McDonald in the early 1970s. He specialized in foreign investment in Canada, assisting numerous international companies in setting up in the country, and publishing the monthly periodical “Foreign Investment in Canada” for almost 50 years.
Outside of the office, Peter put his talents — legal and otherwise — to work volunteering for the Downtown Church Workers’ Association, Street Haven, the Oriole Park Association and numerous political campaigns, federal, provincial and local (perhaps most excitingly, his friend Joe Clark’s run for PM in 1979). He also supported various endeavours for his daughters, from coaching the Wigglesworth Wildcats ringette team (complete with NHL-level swearing!) to accompanying several rainy Oriole Park School camping trips to Algonquin Park.
Other highlights of his decades in the North Toronto community include hosting Christmas Eve parties at #50, visiting with neighbours at the Eastbourne Maple Syrup Festival, co-hosting epic 1950s rock & roll parties at Eglinton Park, and late-night walks with his intrepid mini poodles, Bonnie and Lucy.
Most of all, his family will miss his daily bird-feeder reports, listening to him play Christmas carols and ragtime on the piano, boogieboarding with him on Nantucket’s South Shore, waking up to a jumbo pot of his extra-strong coffee, birding at sundown in the Ding Darling on Sanibel, and his loving, optimistic, can-do approach to life and parenting.
The family would like to thank both the dedicated staff from Home Instead, who helped care for Peter and Lee at home for several years, as well as the amazing staff in the Seaton Courtyard Community at Christie Gardens, who most recently created a loving home away from home for Peter.
A celebration of life will be held Sunday, January 4 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Funeral Centre at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, 375 Mt. Pleasant Rd., Toronto, M4T 2V8.
If desired, memorial donations may be made to Community Music Schools of Toronto or the Out of the Cold Foundation.
Funeral Details
Show location:
Celebration of Life
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Centres
375 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto, ON, CANADA, M4T 2V8
Get Directions
Sunday, 4 Jan 2026 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Info: Please enter through the East Gate Entrance off of Mount Pleasant Road. Then follow the signs to the Funeral Centre