Victor McClenaghan

It is with profound sadness that we announced the unexpected passing of our father, grandfather and husband Victor McClenaghan on June 11^th, 2022 at the North Bay Regional Health Centre after a very brief illness in his 89^th year.

Vic was born on January 11^th, 1934 to his parents Elsie and Joseph McClenaghan (predeceased).  He was one of eight siblings: Katharine (predeceased), Mason (predeceased), John (predeceased), Lloyd (predeceased) McClenaghan, Joyce Legault (predeceased), Joan (Trottier) Yorke and David McClenaghan.

Vic met and married the love of his life, Joanne (Hummel) McClenaghan and were married on April 15^th, 1963.  Together they welcomed four children: Rhonda McClenaghan (predeceased), Jeffery McClenaghan (Tracy), Gregory McClenaghan (Jennifer) and Shannon Lachance (Gilles).

The family grew to include 4 grandchildren, Austin McClenaghan, Eric, Ben and Ava Lachance who brought so much joy to his life.  Our father talked often about the joy of watching his grandchildren grow as this was something his own parents never had the opportunity to experience.  He did not take this for granted.

Born in Cache Bay, Ontario Vic worked at the local lumber mill as a young teenager and had many odd jobs including bartending despite him never having touched a drop himself.  Vic joined the North Bay Police Force at the young age of 21 in 1956 working 35 years before retiring as a Staff Sergeant in 1991.  During his 35 year career he had worked in many areas from frontline foot patrol, to being the first motorcycle officer, first Forensic Identification Officer on the force, bomb squad (explosive expert), Courts and Shift supervisor of Platoons.  Our father took great pride in his policing career leading to him penning the history of the North Bay Police Force (1882-2008) with author, Wayne LeBelle called The Beat Light.   This project was a source of great pride for our father and the book launched during the 125^th Anniversary

Our father was always willing to lend a helping hand and to give back to the community – too many to list but the one that meant the most to him was North Bay Community Living where he sat for a number of years as Board Member and FJ Dellandra where he spent 40 hours a week volunteering for years after his retirement and running Friday BBQ’s at the Homestyle Café.  These opportunities brought him complete joy and lasting friendships.  

He was also a Jack of all Trades, and involved in Hobbies/organizations galore from Carpentry, Pottery to Model Railroad clubs, to West Ferris Minor Hockey President, the first Police Playground including coaching North Bay Police little league teams, to the Astronomy Club. 

Our father was also involved in many aspects of the sports in North Bay which earned him the Peter Palangio Award in 2014 for his long time dedication and contribution to Sport – Sportsperson of the Year.  

Fishing was a great passion and was always trying to catch the most fish and the biggest fish.  He was a true competitor in everything he did.  He looked forward to his yearly fishing expeditions to Longlac, ON with his son in law, Gilles and son Jeff.   

In the latter years when our mother was no longer able to cook due to her dementia, our father took on this task 150% - he was very adventurous in his dishes often using the pressure cooker, air fryer, bbq, and oven.  He would search recipes on the internet and had his own books of recipes.  He loved to cook dishes for everyone as ways of saying thank you. His famous chef quote: “You have never in your life, tasted anything as good as this.”

We will miss you Dad but we were so blessed to have had you in our lives for as long as we did.  We are left with a life time of memories to celebrate you and to hold close to our hearts.

We would like to thank Dr. Riley and the Callander Medical Clinic for their care and compassion to our father over the years. We would like to thank Dr. Riley, Dr. Lindsey, and the Staff from D3 and ICU who helped care for and support our family and dad during his final days.

Family receiving friends at Hillside Funeral Services, 362 Airport Rd,  on Saturday July 9th, 2022 from 11 until 2 pm. A celebration of his life will follow at 2 pm.

In Lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to North Bay Community Living or the Alzheimer Society of North Bay and District.