TAYLOR, Dr. Clifford Courtenay - Passed away peacefully in Toronto on October 26, 2021, at the age of 95.
Cliff was born in 1926 in Kingston, Jamaica W.I. He and his siblings grew up in a strong happy home.
One of Cliff’s lifelong joys was to have attended Kingston College in Jamaica, whose motto is Fortis cadere, cedere non potest (“The Brave May Fall but Never Yield”).
Cliff left Jamaica in 1949 to attend university in Canada in New Brunswick at Mt. Allison University for pre-med.
While at Mount Allison, Cliff joined the Canadian Navy for his summers.
After graduation, Cliff attended medical school in Montreal at McGill University, and formed lifelong connections and friendships there. From Montreal he moved to take a residency position at Metropolitan General Hospital in Windsor, Ontario where he met a beautiful nurse on staff, Janet Morris. This fateful meeting would begin his lifelong love with Janet.
Cliff and Janet married in 1958 and lived in Montreal before settling in Toronto. “Dr. Taylor”, as he became known to his hundreds of patients over his career, started on staff at what was known as Doctor’s Hospital in Toronto, and soon joined the Raxlen Clinic in the Regent Park area. This was the start of his 5 decades of family medical practice in the Toronto area.
Soon after, as Cliff and Janet were starting their young family, Cliff along with several other practitioners developed a medical practice, Boniface Park, in Scarborough. In 1967, he was part of the founding group of doctors for Centenary Hospital, Scarborough. He was a much-loved General Practitioner, adored by his patients and coworkers. He would often spend many visits counselling patients with kindness and wisdom. Dr. Taylor delivered more than 500 babies, devoted to their care, leaving for the hospital at all hours to help his families bring their little ones safely into the world.
Cliff was also very active in his community. Along with Janet, he contributed to the organization of the first Caribana parade, and their family was part of the strong Jamaican-Canadian community in Toronto, providing guidance and assistance to those emigrating here from Jamaica. He loved returning to his beloved Jamaica to visit relatives and friends.
To Cliff, his family, and the strength he gave them, and received, brought joy to him throughout his life. His light will shine on in all of us forever.
He is predeceased by his sister Gloria; survived by his loving wife Janet, his siblings Keith (Christine), Barbara, Howard (Jane), Peter (Bev); his loving in-laws Carole (Don), Connie (Sandy), Rick (Marilyn); his children Cliff ‘CCT III’ (Cheryl), Paul (Jackie) and Jacqueline (Tom); his grandchildren Clifford ‘CCT IV’ (Anna), Mitchell (Pam), Natasha (Dalton), Maya, Denby, James Courtenay, Sasha (Adam) and Jacqueline; his nieces and nephews Celina, Ross, Keith, Colin, Peter, Lisa-May, Simone, Rory, Vanessa, Laura, Craig, Heather, Melissa, Emily, Gavin, Kevin, Ian, Alison; and many loving great-nieces, great-nephews and cousins.
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