Fabian O'Dea

{{short description|Canadian lawyer and lieutenant governor}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| name = Fabian Aloysius O'Dea

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|QC|size=100%}}

| image =

| imagesize =

| order = 4th

| office = Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland

| predecessor = Campbell Macpherson

| successor = Ewart John Arlington Harnum

| term_start = March 1, 1963

| term_end = April 2, 1969

| monarch = Elizabeth II

| governor_general = George Vanier
Roland Michener

| premier = Joey Smallwood

| birth_date = {{birth date|1918|01|20}}

| birth_place = St. John's, Dominion of Newfoundland

| death_date = {{death date and age|2004|12|12|1918|01|20}}

| death_place = St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

| nationality = Newfoundlander (until confederation),
Canadian

| spouse = Constance Margaret Ewing (1950

| allegiance = {{flag|Canada|1921}}

| branch = Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve

| serviceyears = 1939-1945

| rank =

| battles = Second World War

}}

Fabian Aloysius O'Dea, {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|QC}} (January 20, 1918 – December 12, 2004) was a Newfoundland and Canadian lawyer and the fourth lieutenant governor of Newfoundland.

Family

He was the son of John V. O'Dea and May (Coady) O'Dea. In 1950, O'Dea married Constance Margaret (Peggy) Ewing. They had four children; Deborah (1951), Victoria (Viki) (1953), Stephen (1954) and Jane (1956).{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Life and career

Born in St. John's, O'Dea was educated at St. Bonaventure's College, Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), University of Toronto, Dalhousie University and Christ Church, Oxford.

In 1939, he was selected Rhodes Scholar for Newfoundland, but delayed going to Oxford in order to join the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, where he served as torpedo officer.

In 1945, when he retired from the reserve he attended Oxford for a BCL degree and was admitted to the English Bar at the Inner Temple in 1948.

In 1949, O'Dea was made honorary aide-de-camp to the Governor General of Canada. From 1949 to 1961 he was aide-de-camp to the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1963 O'Dea became Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador and a QC.

O'Dea was a member of the Board of Regents for MUN, Vice-President for Newfoundland at the Canadian Bar Association and a member of the Canadian Rhodes Scholarship selection committee. Fabian O'Dea was also a collector of sixteenth to eighteenth century maps of Newfoundland and Labrador.

John R. O'Dea was the brother of Fabian O'Dea.{{cite book |last=O'Dea |first=Brian |date=2006 |title=High: Confessions of an International Drug Smuggler |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7b5vDwAAQBAJ |location=Toronto, Canada |publisher=Random House Canada |pages=291, 326, 358 |isbn=978-1-59051-331-6 |via=Google Books |ref={{sfnRef|O'Dea}}}} Brian O'Dea was Fabian O'Dea's nephew.{{sfn|O'Dea|page=38}}

Awards and honours

O'Dea's awards include:{{cite book |editor1-last=Poole |editor1-first=Cyril F. |editor2-last=Cuff |editor2-first=Robert |date=1993 |title=Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador |volume= 4 |url=https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/cns_enl/id/11 |location=St. John's, Canada |publisher=Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. |pages=151–152 |via=Memorial University of Newfoundland Digital Archives Initiative |ref={{sfnRef|Encyclopedia}}}}

{{Infobox COA wide

|escutcheon = Vert on a fess wavy Argent between in chief a fouled anchor surmounted by a balance and in base a sun rising Or two barrulets wavy Vert.

|crest = A caribou statant erect Proper holding in its mouth a trefoil Vert and supporting between the forelegs a fasces palewise Or.

|motto = Constans (Steadfast){{cite web|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/public-register/project/3607 |publisher=Canadian Heraldic Authority |accessdate=1 September 2024 |title=Fabian O'Dea}}

|notes = Recorded at the College of Arms on 1 June 1967.}}

References

{{Reflist}}