Obituary: John Meaney (1939-2021) was longtime mayor of Kirkland

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John W. Meaney, a former mayor of Kirkland and a prominent member of Montreal’s Irish community, died on November 14 in Ottawa. He was 82 years old.

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Meaney was mayor of Kirkland for nearly two decades, from 1994 to 2013. He also served 15 years as a city councilor, beginning in 1975.

John Morson, a longtime Kirkland councilor, praised Meaney’s contribution to the West Island community.

“He spent a good portion of his adult life serving the citizens of Kirkland. He was very dedicated to the citizens.

“John played an important role in the development of the city of Kirkland from a very new city in the 1970s to the city that it is today,” Morson said.

During that time, Kirkland’s population grew from a few thousand to more than 20,000.

“Back then (in the 1960s and 1970s) there were a lot of cornfields. There were sheep and everything else, ”Morson said.

“John was a great mayor. He was also a great friend, ”Morson added. “He was very friendly, very approachable. With the citizens, I remember it very well, I would never turn anyone away. And nothing or an event was ever missed. “

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Meaney and his wife Evelyn raised three daughters, Sharon, Colleen and Laurie, in the Timberlea area of ​​Kirkland. But Meaney recently moved to Ottawa to be close to her family, Morson said.

“John was always proud of the city of Kirkland,” said Morson, who noted that the city is named after a street in honor of the former mayor years ago. Meaney St. is located near the old family home in Riverwood Grove.

Kirkland Mayor Michel Gibson also praised Meaney’s contributions to the city.

“John was a good mayor too,” Gibson added. “He was present at all of our social activities and other community events.”

Gibson, who defeated Meaney in the 2013 election to become mayor, said Meaney was popular with local citizens.

“John was a happy, easy-going guy. He loved people. He was very sincere in what he would say. He was not the type of man who would sit on the fence; he was a direct shooter. People knew exactly whether John wanted something or not. “

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After his electoral defeat in 2013, Meaney reflected on his nearly four decades in Kirkland politics.

“One of the things I was thinking about this morning is what it was like when I was first elected. I think at that time the population was 2,500 and today it is 22,000. My legacy is that I saw how it was building from a small town to a very vibrant city today. If I look out the window and see the infrastructure that exists today, I think I can be very proud of it, ”he said in a Gazette article.

Meaney, who was born in Griffintown on February 12, 1939, was also proud of her Irish heritage. He was selected as the Grand Marshal for the 2008 Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Montreal. In 2012, he was named Irishman of the Year by the Erin Sport Association.

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He also received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medallion for his contribution to Canada.

Meaney grew up on the eastern edge of Rosemont and on the south shore of St. Hubert. He spent much of his professional career at RCA and Domtar in the computer science field. He left Domtar and the council in 1990 to become Kirkland’s deputy director of public works.

TO funeral service is scheduled for Saturday, November 20 at St. Edmund of Canterbury Church, 105 Beaconsfield Blvd., in Beaconsfield.

The service is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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