Paul Heinbecker

Don and I were friends since high school when we both attended St. Jerome’s in Kitchener. Although our career paths diverged—Don became a scientist and I a diplomat--we stayed in touch down through the years, right up to his final days in Toronto. 

It was evident already in high school that Don would be exceptional. Of the two of us, he was the stronger academically, I the better athletically, which Don would only grudgingly admit. (We both stood out in football and track. In preparation for games and meets we would retreat to Don’s mom’s diner where she served us chocolate milkshakes with raw eggs, a sports diet like no other!). 
Don had many talents but it was, of course, as a scientist and academic that he excelled. Recipient of the Order of Ontario and Order of Canada, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, University Professor Emeritus of the University of Toronto and winner of many other awards, Don was pre-eminent in his field. But he wore his many honours admirably lightly.

A patriotic Canadian, he was the child of immigrants and proud of his Ukrainian roots. His enormous contribution to science made him a poster boy of the benefits to Canada of immigration and integration. 
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An unassuming academic star, an honest and exceptional talent, Don was always open to fun, kind to all and true to friends. They don’t make them like Don any more. I will miss him enormously.