J. Keiller MacKay
Plot Q, Lot 154
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Born in Plainfield, Nova Scotia on July 11, 1888, young MacKay was educated at Pictou Academy and St. Francis Xavier before the outbreak of war curtailed his studies. MacKay enlisted and was sent overseas with the 6th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery. He served with distinction before being seriously wounded by shrapnel at Vimy Ridge. A metal-backed notebook that he carried in his breast pocket saved his life.
Recovering in a Halifax hospital, the young man began to study law and was awarded his degree from Dalhousie University in 1922. He was then called to the bar of Nova Scotia and, a year later, to the bar of Ontario. He held several important judicial posts, including justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario. In 1957, Prime Minister Diefenbaker appointed MacKay, Ontario’s 19th Lieutenant-Governor, a post he held until his resignation in 1963. He then went on to become the first chairman of the Ontario Council for the Arts. MacKay, who also held several important directorships, died at the Toronto General Hospital on June 12, 1970.
Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded