Sept. 30, 1949 - June 2, 2025
It is with deep sorrow and much love that we mourn the death of Dr. David Lachlan McGillivray, MD, FRCPC, FAAP, who passed away on June 2, 2025, in Montreal, at the age of 75.
The gentle, wise, kind, sweet, humble and handsome David, whose still waters ran profoundly deep, will be lovingly remembered by his husband/partner of 27 years, Gregg Blachford; sisters Jane (Russ) Reid and Cathy Cadieux; sister-in-law Peggy McGillivray; 11 nieces and nephews; and 15 great-nieces and great-nephews. David was predeceased by his big brother, Donald, and brother-in-law, Paul Cadieux. David will also be fondly remembered by Gregg's sisters, Barb (Vaughn), Jennifer (Joe), and their six children and four grandchildren; along with scores of good friends, neighbours and colleagues.
Born in Sarnia, Ont., David spent most of his youth in Toronto, where he joined the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club and took up competitive figure skating. That eventually led to his participation in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, and three World Championships, culminating in a gold medal in the men's singles competition at the 1970 Canadian National Skating Championships. David retired from competition in 1970, but continued to coach, judge and perform for another decade. David was part of the last generation of male figure skaters in competition to wear a tie and a dark one-piece suit and to not raise their arms over their head!
David's next sporting adventure was running marathons, which he did through the 1980s and 1990s. He ran several Boston Marathons, where his best time was a remarkable 2:29. He continued to run as a pastime with Gregg, participating in many local and out-of-province race weekends, including at the Sydney Gay Games in 2002.
David began a career in medicine at the University of Toronto, followed by a residency at the Montreal Children's Hospital, then a decade as a pediatrician in Peterborough.
In 1988, David was recruited back to the Montreal Children's Hospital, where he accepted a job offer as the director of the emergency room. At the hospital, he excelled not only in clinical care but also in research, training, mentoring and educational initiatives with the McGill Faculty of Medicine, winning multiple awards.
A major accomplishment was taking a leading role in the uphill battle to create the pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) subspecialty at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. David poured his soul into the hospital and had a profound impact on pediatric medicine locally, across Canada and worldwide.
David retired in 2012, and for the next six years, he and Gregg travelled adventurously to many parts of the globe. As a couple, David and Gregg hosted a diverse network of go-getters in Montreal's queer community and their friends at their legendary, not-to-be-missed parties in their always-welcoming home sur le Plateau in Montreal.
David had been living with Alzheimer's disease since 2018. He was living at home with Gregg until last November, when he moved to a cognitive care facility, Résidence Selena. There, David was content, receiving excellent care from the devoted and dedicated staff. However, a sudden overwhelming infection took him from us much sooner than had been expected.
Because of his big heart and because he was a generous man, David has left a major bequest to the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation and Toronto's SickKids Hospital Foundation. Feeling that research in pediatric emergency medicine was underfunded, David endowed, after his retirement, the David McGillivray Pediatric Emergency Medicine Research Fund, kickstarting several new PEM research projects. Outside of medicine, David has funded dozens of charities, many of them helping the homeless. David had worked hands-on with the Montreal charity Dans La Rue for many years, serving coffee and hot dogs from their bus.
As had been agreed beforehand, David's brain was donated to the Douglas-Bell Canada Brain Bank for Alzheimer's research. David, along with Gregg, also set up the Gregg Blachford and David McGillivray Faculty of Arts Internship Award at McGill University.
Huge thanks go out to the Alzheimer Society of Montreal, whose exceptional staff kept David and Gregg well informed and cocooned with love, support and innovative activities during the evolution of David's disease. Special thanks also go to the staff at the McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, our excellent CLSC social workers, as well as the staff at the Centre de jour at the CHSLD Émilie-Gamelin. The support by caregivers Karera Émile Dada and Stéphane Montpetit over the years was invaluable. Finally, thanks go to David's sisters, Cathy and Jane, for reaching out to help in multiple ways over the years with time, energy, invaluable insights and love.
In lieu of flowers, donations in David's memory may be made to the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation, Alzheimer Society of Montreal or Dans La Rue.