Obit: Justice Walter Stayshyn was a cross between ‘Perry Mason and Santa Claus’

Justice Walter Stayshyn served on the bench for 35 years. He died Dec. 16 at age 87.

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Former Superior Court docket Justice Walter Stayshyn is being remembered for his compassion and intelligence on the bench, and likewise his work in the neighborhood exterior of the courts.

Stayshyn — who died Dec. 16 at age 87 — served on the bench for 35 years, overseeing circumstances from frauds to murders, but in addition discovered time to be concerned in such teams because the Hamilton-Wentworth District Well being Council, the place he served as chair. He chaired a Hamilton hospitals motion committee which labored on fixing frequent issues between the town’s hospitals.

The Dundas resident — he additionally lived in Ancaster — additionally served on the board of St. Joseph’s Villa, Hamilton-Wentworth AIDs Steering Committee, Hamilton-Wentworth Authorized Assist, the previous Mount Mary Academy in Ancaster and as honorary chair of the Hamilton-Wentworth A number of Sclerosis Society Carnation Marketing campaign. His spouse, Katherine, had MS and he received the Caregiver of the 12 months from Hamilton MS in 1997. He acquired the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.

“Justice Stayshyn dominated from the bench with compassion when it was warranted and with a agency hand when in his view a participant in a legal prosecution was performing in unhealthy religion,” stated former Hamilton Spectator reporter Barb Brown, who lined the courts for 20 years.

“He was a vigorous defender of the Structure. On a private stage, he had a sort, light disposition and served his neighborhood in Hamilton nicely by giving his time to a variety of well being service organizations, such because the district well being council and A number of Sclerosis Society.”

Stayshyn’s son Ted, a Hamilton lawyer, stated his father was neighborhood centered all his life.

“Many individuals ask me to explain my father, I'd achieve this by saying that he was a cross between Perry Mason and Santa Claus,” stated Ted. “He had a extremely smart authorized thoughts that would clear up even essentially the most advanced points, however exterior the courtroom he was an enormous, jovial larger-than-life man who cherished to snicker and assist others.”

Stayshyn was appointed a county courtroom decide in 1975. He was made a justice of the Ontario Superior Court docket in 1990 and, between 1996-1999, was native administrative decide for the judicial district of Hamilton-Wentworth. He turned a supernumerary decide in 1999.

He retired in 2009, and was so nicely considered he was given the uncommon honour of a swearing-out ceremony overseen by his finest buddy and former regulation companion, Justice Nick Borkovich, and Justice James Turnbull. Stayshyn was one of many judges who developed pretrial conferences to assist judges and attorneys kind out authorized points. They're now within the Ontario Guidelines of Apply.

Turnbull recounted a narrative which he stated confirmed his buddy had a particular nature. His first homicide case was earlier than Stayshyn in 1976, and Turnbull bought a ruling from the Supreme Court docket of Canada to bolster a authorized argument. Turnbull unintentionally gave Stayshyn the lone dissenting resolution and never the one backed by eight of the justices. Turnbull recalled Stayshyn simply smiled.

“He understood the nervousness a younger lawyer had earlier than the courtroom,” Turnbull stated. “I by no means forgot that. Some judges would have floor you into the bottom and humiliated you. He was only a pretty man.”

Stayshyn was born Nov. 14, 1934, to Ukrainian immigrants, Theodore and Theresa Stayshyn. His father labored at Worldwide Harvester and his mom was a dressmaker. He attended Gibson Public Faculty and Central Secondary Faculty, the place he was a star athlete on the basketball courtroom and soccer discipline.

He graduated in 1958 with a B.A. from McMaster College and went to Osgoode Corridor. He graduated in 1961 and articled with John L. Agro, QC. He was referred to as to the bar in 1963, and he and Borkovich based their agency in 1964. Borkovich died in 2017.

After Stayshyn retired, he turned workplace administrator at his son’s regulation workplace.

In 2012, Stayshyn’s household suffered a tragedy when his daughter Katherine was killed in Oakville by her estranged husband. The decide spoke lovingly about his daughter to the Oakville Beaver, calling her an incredible individual.

Stayshyn is survived by his son Ted, six grandchildren and his sister Irene. He was predeceased by his spouse Katherine in 2006 and daughter Katherine in 2012. His sister Eleanor died in August 2021.