Honourable colleagues, I rise today to pay tribute to a leader in the field of music, a member of the Order of Canada, a professor, a passionate supporter of unsung heroes and a dear friend, Dr. Jack O’Donnell.

Best known as director of the Men of the Deeps miners choir, Jack passed away last month. His cherished wife, Judy, followed him just 25 days later.

Marcel Proust said:

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Jack O’Donnell made many souls blossom. Students at St. Francis Xavier University, L’Arche community members, miners learning to sing, audiences across Canada and the world and fellow community members and friends like me who had the privilege of basking in the glow of the brilliance, kindness and gentleness this sweet man exuded.

I met Jack when our family moved to Nova Scotia 22 years ago. He and his beautiful Judy welcomed us warmly into their home and into the community. Jack taught my daughter Lauren a music course at St. FX. Lauren, like many young people who benefited from Jack’s tutelage, gained a gift of music appreciation for life.

In eulogizing Jack, I am drawn to focus on his magnum opus — the Men of the Deeps miners choir.

I quote the Globe and Mail:

Former miners who sang for him say while Mr. O’Donnell was trained in piano and Gregorian chant, he was also a down-to-earth leader who gained a passion for collecting and arranging songs about the lives of soot-covered men who made their living underground.

Organized in 1966 as part of Cape Breton’s centennial contribution, the Men of the Deeps, this unique choir of working and retired coal miners, went on under the unassuming leadership of Jack O’Donnell to become the first Canadian performing group to tour China in 1976 after diplomatic relations had been restored. In 1999, at the invitation of Vanessa Redgrave, Jack and the men performed at a festival in Kosovo in support of UNICEF.

From China and Kosovo, to Massey Hall, to the Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories and to many communities large and small across our land, Jack O’Donnell led the men and their Cape Breton coal mining culture and music into the hearts of people.

Jack’s collaboration with Rita MacNeil, adapting her song “Working Man” for the choir was an outstanding success. Another song, “The Lights Will Shine,” spoke of the tragedy of the Westray mining disaster.

This Sunday evening our community will gather in darkness at St. Ninian’s cathedral as the Men of the Deeps enter dramatically with their miners’ lamps glowing and in full voice as we celebrate the life of our gifted friends Jack and Judy O’Donnell.

The Men of the Deeps website reads:

Mr. John O’Donnell, the ultimate maestro, will be greatly missed by family, friends,countless colleagues and by we, his brothers ... we’re sure he is organizing a heavenly choir as we grieve his passing.

Indeed, we will all miss this charming maestro and our very dear friend. Merci. Wela’lioq.