Honourable William Malcolm MacEachern

MacEachern, Hon. William (Bill) Malcolm, ECNS, 89, of Halifax and Judique passed away March 1, 2020 at the Halifax Infirmary. Born in Judique South, Inverness Co., he was the son of Euphemia Malcolm and John MacEachern.

Bill attended Lorne School in Judique, graduated summa cum laude from St. Francis Xavier University in 1951 and received his journalism diploma from the University of Western Ontario in 1954. During the summers he worked as a stevedore, hard-rock miner, jackhammer operator, waiter & busboy (Wildwood Inn Massachusetts, then owned by his beloved great-aunt Florence and her husband Tom Killeen). His stint on a mink farm forever turned him against that industry.

Bill was a respected journalist at the Toronto Star from 1955 to 1965. During this time he wrote the series “Fourteen Days as an Old Age Pensioner” which was later printed in book form. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa. Bill was honoured to have worked for Prime Ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Allan J.MacEachen. In 1974 he successfully ran to represent Inverness South in the Nova Scotia Legislature. He was appointed Minister of Health and Registrar General and later Minister of Social Services and The Status of Women. In this role he spear-headed Nova Scotia’s Children’s Oral Health Program and the establishment of the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre. He retired from public service as a member of the Canadian Aviation Safety Board in Ottawa where he was part of the team that investigated the Air India Flight 182 disaster of 1985.

Bill worked in various capacities to improve the lives of persons with intellectual disabilities in both Ontario & Nova Scotia. In particular he proudly supported his son Andrew’s participation in Special Olympics and even travelled with him when he won a silver medal in swimming for Canada at the International Games in Louisiana in 1983. The ROC employment venture in Port Hawkesbury, especially its bread, was another project of which he was rightfully proud.

His ability to multitask while driving was legendary and frightening for anyone brave enough to sit in the passenger seat.

Bill was an Honourary Board Member of the The Celtic Music Interpretive Centre in Judique. He passed along his pride in his Scottish Gaelic heritage to all his children.

Bill is survived by his children, Catriona, Donna (late John Legge), Ross (Diane), Andrew and Rebecca (Donna Krailo) and his cherished grandchildren, Connor and Margaret MacEachern; sisters, Barbara Banks, Bernadette Gillis, Catherine Surette (late David) and Christine Walker (Dave Madsen); and brothers, Stanley (Barbara) Donald (Margie), John (Janice) and David (Kitty). Bill was also an uncle to many nieces and nephews in Australia, the United States and Canada.

Besides his parents Bill was predeceased by his wife Alice (Lal) Margaret Morgan; siblings, T. Robert (Anna Mae Rankin), Monica Fallon (Tom) and Florence Lahey. Four siblings died in infancy: Gordon, Monica, Muriel and Catherine M.

Cremation has taken place. Visitation from 2pm to 5pm, Thursday, March 5, 2020 at J.A. Snow Funeral Home, 339 Lacewood Drive, Halifax. Celebration of life to follow in the summer of 2020 in his beloved Judique, Nova Scotia. Donations to Alzheimers Society of Nova Scotia or the Halifax Special Olympics Swim Team (Halifax Whalers c/o R. Smith, 41 Edward Laurie Drive, Halifax,B3M 2C6)