Our city has lost local advocate, ambassador and Burlington Hall of Famer Don Green

The City of Burlington has lost a local advocate and ambassador in the passing of resident Don Green.A booster of Burlington and Canada, Mr. Green was a remarkable and wonderful man, sailor and inductee of the Burlington Sports Hall of Fame.A lifelong resident between Hamilton and Burlington, he started sailing at the age of five. As a sailor, he used a Burlington crew to secure the Canada’s Cup over the U.S. in 1978 and the Admirals Cup in England in 1981 where his crew survived a particularly lethal storm that tragically claimed the lives of 17 sailors.When Mr. Green was inducted into the Burlington Sports Hall of Fame in June 2012, he was quoted in the Burlington Post as saying, “Burlington is a vibrant community. And Canada… I love to represent my country. We are a marine nation. Many people don’t know this. We have a lot of talent here.”He served as chair of Innovation Ontario Corporation and McMaster University’s board of governors (receiving an honorary doctorate of laws in 2008), and as governor of Ortech (Ontario Research Corporation). He also held many corporate directorships and publicly served as governor of the Olympic Trust of Canada, president of the Greater Hamilton YMCA and founding chair of the Hamilton District Health Council.In addition, Mr. Green took over his family business of Hamilton Clamp and Stamping and rebranded it as Tridon to international success.Mr. Green passed away on Monday, Feb. 18 at the age of 86 in his Burlington home and leaves behind his wife Sandy, children Sharon and Stephen, and grandchildren Michaela, Michael, Kieran and Rachel.On behalf of my colleagues on council, I send my deepest condolences to his family and the many people whose lives he touched. We are grateful for the contributions he made to our community and in sports and business.Mr. Green will be greatly missed by those he knew and those he had an impact on in Burlington and Hamilton, as well as across Canada and beyond.