A Tribute to John Ross Matheson, OC CD QC (1917 – 2013)
(a talk by Peter Milliken)

May 29, 2014

Branch President Peter Milliken provided a most interesting tribute to his late cousin John Matheson, UE. Other sources refer to our late member as “John Ross Matheson, OC CD QC (November 14, 1917 – December 27, 2013)” and state that he “was a Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician who helped develop both the maple leaf flag and the Order of Canada” [Wikipedia] but fail to note that John was a very proud descendant of Charles Rose, UEL. Peter informed us that he didn’t have to do any work towards obtaining his own UE certification: his mother’s first cousin, John Matheson, just filled out the form and told a young Peter to sign! Of course, John was for a time the Honorary President of UELAC, and a long-time member (including being president) of Sir Guy Carleton Branch when he lived in Ottawa. He enlisted as many family members as possible to become members and swell the ranks of the organization.

John graduated from Queen’s University in 1940 and immediately enlisted in the Canadian Army. He was severely wounded at Ortona, Italy and left on the battlefield. Peter related that a chaplain, Waldo Smith, told him many years later that he personally went onto the field after battle had ceased, found John, and carried him back to the camp to be hospitalized. John was repatriated to a hospital in Canada, where his future wife Edith was a nurse. Their six children are Peter Milliken’s second cousins.

After the war, John Matheson returned to university and became a lawyer, settling in Brockville, Ontario. He first won a by-election in Leeds & Grenville in 1961. He was then returned as MP in the elections of 1962, 1963 and 1965. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Lester Pearson. Peter was always interested in Parliament from a young age, and was delighted to visit his mother’s cousin in Ottawa: John would take him to sessions of the House, and would introduce him to such figures as Pearson, John Diefenbaker, and Pierre Trudeau (who was the other Parliamentary Secretary to the PM along with John).

John lost the 1968 election by just four votes. After leaving politics, he was appointed as a judge and served in that capacity for a number of years.

Peter told us that John’s personal legacy includes 18 grandchildren and one great-grand-child. But his legacy to the country is much larger: during the seven years he was in the House of Commons, he was the co-founder of the Order of Canada, and the co-designer of the Canadian Maple Leaf flag. He was adept at achieving compromise, says Peter, and that’s why his committee work was so successful.

We were pleased to hear these personal insights into a man who many of us knew only in his later years after he retired to Kingston and occasionally attended our local meetings. He accomplished much good for Canada, and leaves an example which today’s politicians would do well to emulate.