Martin Richard Hefferon

It is with profound sadness that the family of Martin ("Marty") announces his peaceful passing on April 2nd, 2026, at St. Catharine's Hospital, Ontario, Canada, aged 78.

 

Born in Dublin in 1947, Martin began his career as an accountant in Dublin and later in London, before he and his beloved wife Nessa (McGuire) emigrated to Toronto in 1976. There, he built a distinguished career spanning four decades in the commercial insurance industry, serving as President of Biggs, Evans, Phillips & Martin Insurance Brokers, and later acquiring North City Insurance, a brokerage he nurtured into a thriving agency. His sharp business instincts, tireless work ethic, and steady confident energy earned him the deep respect of all who knew him, and he was a mentor to many.

 

Martin possessed a brilliant mind with remarkable breadth across business, history, geography, and politics, and his opinions were always well-informed and delivered with courtesy. He was the kind of man who gave you his time and genuinely wanted to know something about you – a reflection of his caring nature and the integrity he possessed.

 

A generous and altruistic man, Martin quietly helped many. From volunteering with disadvantaged youth in Dublin at seventeen, to supporting the blind, to helping newcomers to Canada, his generosity was never performed – it was simply who he was. For over 12 years he served as a board director and steadfast supporter of Developing Scholars, an English-language school for disadvantaged children in Guatemala, offering wise counsel and tangible support to its students.

 

Martin retained lifelong ties to Ireland, and his love of Irish music and song was well known to all who heard him sing. He had an insatiable passion for rugby, playing on the Senior Cup team at St. Mary's College Rugby Club and winning the final in 1963. He also enjoyed golf, skiing with his family, and summers spent in Ireland, and cherished his annual gatherings with his five brothers across Europe. On retirement, he and Nessa made their home in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where he would never miss a sunset from the porch overlooking the lake.

 

Above all, Martin was a devoted and loving husband to Nessa for 51 years, and a loving father to Nischa, Conor, and Ciara.

 

He is sadly missed by his brothers Liam, Tom (Jean), Michael (Catherine), Colm (Maureen), and John (Maeve), and by his many beloved nieces and nephews in Ireland, Canada, and Australia.

 

Following cremation, Martin's ashes will be returned to Dublin for a funeral service and interment in the McGuire family plot in Bunnanadden, Co. Sligo. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.

 

Donations in memory of Martin may be directed to The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation at https://thepmcf.ca/ways-to-give/memory/

 

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

 

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