‘A true statesman and kindhearted man’
Longtime mayor Bob Morrow remembered for his passion, commitment to community
Hamilton’s longest-serving mayor never stopped working for the community he loved.
That sounds like a cliche — except Bob Morrow actually did spend the hours before his death working the phones to try to find a Sunday mass replacement organist for his beloved St. Patrick’s parish downtown.
His death Monday, at age 71, spurred a flood of online tributes from friends, politicians of all stripes and even new Canadians welcomed by the former citizenship judge.
Morrow guided pre-amalgamation Hamilton as mayor from 1982 to 2000, and later stepped up in 2014 to fill a vacant Ward 3 council seat. But his passion for the community was visible outside of politics, too.
Morrow left “a number of messages” in the early hours of Sunday apologizing for missing mass at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church, where he served as organist for almost a decade, said Fr. Tony O’Dell by email. “In his last message he reminded me that this was the first time he missed a mass during his time with us. He will be remembered as a true statesman
and kindhearted man in our parish and beyond.”
That was his father in a nutshell, said son George Morrow.
Morrow, who kept his health challenges to himself as much as possible, tried to keep up with his volunteer commitments despite being on dialysis for months due to an undisclosed ilness, said George. He said a complicating lung infection intefered with his father’s treatment and hastened his death.
Morrow is survived by his sons George and Kerr.
“He was so passionate about (his church duties),” said George. “He was going into the hospital and he was still calling around, looking for a replacement. It mattered to him.”
Those sorts of stories followed Morrow throughout his political career.
Like the one about him driving home one Saturday from cottage country, where he was vacationing with his family, to help a couple officially open their new restaurant on Cannon Street East. He stayed for awhile and then got back in his car and drove back to Muskoka.
Or when he complained indignantly to the Royal Canadian Air Farce in 2000 when they started making jokes about Hamilton on their popular CBC TV comedy show.
The Spectator reported Morrow was known for working seven-day weeks — sometimes squeezing in 14 appointments a day — in the lead-up to the amalgmation election he eventually lost to Bob Wade.
“Whatever he did, it was heart and soul,” said Mary Kiss, who served as an old city Ward 1 alderman when Morrow was mayor all the way from 1982 to 2000.
She said Morrow fostered cultural diversity in Hamilton, welcoming and aiding newcomers both as mayor and later as citizenship judge.
“He worked so hard, he really did, night and day. I feel like he really cared about the ordinary people in the community. And I think people felt that.”
Over 18 years as mayor Morrow also earned his share of criticism and controversy.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission fined Morrow after a complaint about his decision not to proclaim Gay Pride Week in the early 1990s. (The city later stopped the practice of issuing “proclamations” for any special events.)
He was criticized — and later lauded — for his role in the city purchase and transformation of the contaminated area that became Bayfront Park. His championing of floral medians has also prompted mockery and praise over the years.
He even earned a fat lip trying to play peacemaker during a city hall parking lot scuffle between two aldermen in 1991.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger issued public condolences Monday and announced all City of Hamilton flags would be flown at half- staff until the funeral service. (George Morrow said funeral details were still being worked out Monday.)
Eisenberger lauded the longtime politician and talented pianist for “growing the cultural capacity” of the city and presiding over the start of a transformation “of what is now considered to be the most diversified economy in Canada.”
“He was a friend to all and a mentor to many; and was noted to be a passionate advocate for the average working men and women,” said Eisenberger. “He continued his community participation by leading his beloved choir to the end.”
“He was a gentle giant of a man always concerned with trying (to) do the right thing,” tweeted Hamilton Liberal MPP Ted McMee- kin, who served as Flamborough mayor during Morrow’s tenure at the helm of the old city.
“There will be some wonderful music in heaven tonight.”
Tributes also came from politicians at all levels, including Conservative MP David Sweet, provincial NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, Liberal MP and former city mayor Bob Bratina, and federal Liberal Environment Minister (and Hamilton native) Catherine McKenna.
Council recognized Morrow just two months ago when they voted to rename the City Hall forecourt in his honour.
Morrow won his first election as an alderman for the west end Ward 1 in 1968 at age 22, only to be disqualified because his name wasn’t on the voter’s list. Later he was elected to the board of control and ran successfully for mayor at the age of 35 in 1982. He would ultimately win six straight elections for mayor before losing to Wade.
When longtime Ward 3 councillor Bernie Morelli died in office in 2014, council appointed Morrow to fill the vacancy till the next election.
In between, Morrow served as a citizenship judge for several years.