Donald Lainson

Click Here to View Service

With some reluctant relief, and sadness, the Lainson and Briggs families would like anyone who knew Donald to know of his passing on Wednesday, August 25th, 2021 at the age of 65 at Humber River Hospital. Donald was born on December 12th, 1955 in Toronto, Ontario. Don was married to his late and beloved wife, Eeva, for 10 years.

Anyone who knew Don knew he was born with a genetic disease called Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD). He was diagnosed in 1967 via a biopsy. He was the youngest of 20 cousins. He loved to remind them all of this fact.

Words cannot express how much he was loved and he will be missed by all his family and friends.

Don’s superpower was his voice and his will to live. He was a great conversationalist, you could spend hours talking to him about anything from current events, politics, and technology and he was amazing in his ability to retain information by listening to the news, TV programs etc., and have such depth and breadth of knowledge on these subjects.

He was also a bit of an audiophilia. Anyone who visited him at 213 John Street would most likely be witness to him playing some orchestral music on his Polk stereo system.

He loved to hack computer games on his computer and when he was young he would build electronics circuits from scratch using his skills as an Electronics Technician. He also scanned and uploaded a huge number of books to Project Gutenberg. If you download one of the texts to a book he scanned you will see his digital initials as a signature. So his legacy would live on.

Don loved his family and had great respect for his parents, many cousins and he enjoyed talking about his past when he was able to walk and get around in his wheelchair. Over the past decade, he had a lot of joy from his primary caregiver Arlene Salazar and her children. He was able to watch the kids grow up in his home and was thrilled to be part of their lives and he would talk about them to anyone who asked and they were one of the bright spots in his life.

Don was also especially thankful and grateful for Kathy and David Graham’s regular bi-weekly Sunday visits - and he would look forward to them every time. He loved how Kathy would take the kids out for walks, and skating trips. It truly made him feel like the children were able to experience more than just his home, as he was unable to do those things for them.

Please share any memories, stories and photos of Don on the Condolences tab above.

The family has provided the opportunity to view the LiveStream service from the comfort of your own home. Please click "Photos and Videos" for the link under webcast at the time of service.

On mobile devices and tablets, the webcast link will be available by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

This link will become available at the time of the service.

Instead of flowers please make a donation to Muscular Dystrophy Association Canada. https://www.muscle.ca/donate