Former Lt. Gov. David Onley to be remembered at state funeral on Jan. 30
Posted January 19, 2023 4:10 pm.
Last Updated January 19, 2023 6:39 pm.
Former Ontario Lt.-Gov. David Onley is set to be remembered at a state funeral on Jan. 30.
Morley Bedford Funeral Services says Onley will lie in state at the legislature on Jan. 28 and Jan. 29, then a state funeral will be held at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church in Toronto at 11 a.m. on the following Monday.
Times for the public visitation at the legislature have yet to be finalized.
The current lieutenant-governor announced Onley’s death Saturday, saying he used his status as the province’s first lieutenant-governor with a physical disability to raise awareness of and help break down barriers facing other disabled residents.
A survivor of childhood polio, Onley was also the first newscaster in Canada with a visible disability spending more than two decades at Citytv, first as a weather specialist in 1984 before becoming the first morning anchor of Breakfast Television in 1989. He was also the station’s education, science and technology specialist.
Onley used a motorized scooter throughout his life and frequently drew on his lived experience when highlighting existing accessibility barriers in all facets of society.
Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell says his efforts to draw attention to such issues predated his time in government and could be traced back to his years as a television reporter.
Onley, who was 72 when he died, was appointed lieutenant-governor in 2007 and remained in the position for seven years.
