Prominent lawyer, funeral homeowner Bill Dermody was ‘a gentle giant’
He figured in many high-profile legal cases, helped run family business
His daughter Erin also called him a gentle giant. She noted, however, that his sport in high school was hockey, not basketball
There’s no wonder prominent lawyer and funeral homeowner Bill Dermody is being remembered as a gentle giant.
At six-foot-seven, he was hard to miss standing in a room.
Brian and Rashne Baetz from the Dundas Conservers Society made note of his height in an article about Dermody — who died at 70 on Oct. 18 — for the publication The Wood Duck. Dermody represented the society in a legal tussle with the former Town of Dundas and Hamilton-Wentworth region in 1995 over the future of development in the rural Pleasant View area.
He helped the society retain a 10hectare restriction for any future housing lots. They recalled the first day in the hearing, when Dermody “stood up to his full height of sixfoot-seven, taking what seemed like a minute to do so.” Pleasant View is now part of the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System.
“Bill Dermody was a talented lawyer and an even finer human being,” the couple said. “A true gentle giant, he touched the lives of many in a very positive way.”
Dermody was a presence in many headline cases. He represented everyone from Flamboro Downs in its dispute with the Ontario Harness Horse Association over gambling revenue in 1997 — his client got to keep broadcasting on 19 teletheatres — to a woman who sued three doctors and Hamilton Health Sciences for failing to honour her request for a pain-free birth experience.
The case was settled after five days of testimony in 1998, and she received no money.
He represented plaintiffs in lawsuits over the Hagersville tire fire, the E. coli outbreak in Walkerton and the tainted blood scandal in which people contracted hepatitis C. He also represented Bob Morrow before the Ontario Human Rights Commission in 1994 over his decision not to declare Pride Week in Hamilton.
His daughter Erin also called him a gentle giant. She noted, however, that his sport in high school was hockey, not basketball.
“He just was obviously so friendly,” she said.
“Everyone called him ‘gentle giant’ because of his demeanour. We always said he was one with the people.”
She said he did a lot of free legal work, and also helped out those who couldn’t pay the full bill for a funeral.
She also noted that when the family wintered in Florida, her father often rode the local bus.
Dermody was the third generation running the family funeral home that has a history dating back to the 1920s. In 1990, the family called the business P.X. Dermody Funeral Homes in honour of grandfather Percival Xavier Dermody. It operates homes on East Avenue, King Street East and in a former pizza parlour on Upper Gage Avenue. Dermody bought out other family members in 2010 and became the sole owner.
He also has shares in cremation service businesses and funeral homes in London, Ont.
Dermody worked at the funeral home since he was in high school. In 2015, he was named to the board of the Guaranteed Funeral Deposits of Canada, a non-profit group that oversees funeral funds paid in advance by clients.
Dermody was born on Nov. 23, 1952, to William P. and Mary Dermody. He graduated from Cathedral Boys’ High School and studied at the universities of Western, McMaster and McGill. He held two law degrees.
He worked as a lawyer for the CBC in Ottawa before returning to Hamilton to practise law and help run the family business. He had an office at Lime Ridge Mall, then downtown near the courthouse in the firm of Dempster, Dermody and Riley.
He later had an office on Concession Street.
His hobby was boating and he took great delight in completing The Great Loop, a continuous waterway in eastern North America that includes parts of the Atlantic Ocean, Great Lakes, rivers and canals.
Dermody is survived by his wife Judy, daughters Erin and Clare, and three grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Maureen and brothers Paul and John.