Peter Deacon – RETIRED December 31, 2019, BA, AM, LLB

Peter’s primary areas of the practice of law prior to retiring December 31, 2019 was real estate purchases and sales, mortgage transactions, wills, powers of attorney, estate law, corporate law, commercial transactions, and collections.

Peter was raised in Toronto and attended St. Andrew’s College in Aurora for his secondary school education. He graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Mount Allison University in 1966. He was awarded a Rockefeller Brothers Fellowship to attend Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and during that year he met his wife, Mary Jane, a native of North Carolina.

Peter came to work in the Social Work department at the Mental Health Centre, Penetanguishene, in 1967. He obtained his Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago in 1970, and returned to the Centre where he did community focused work, primarily individual and family counselling. In 1974, Peter entered Queen’s University to attend law school, graduating in 1977. He returned to the Midland/Penetanguishene area and joined Bob MacKinnon and Paul DeVillers as an articling student. He was called to the Bar in 1979, returned to the firm as an associate lawyer and became a partner in 1982. He was appointed as a Deputy Judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 2000, and sits as a Small Claims Court Judge on a regular basis.

Peter has been active in the Midland and Penetanguishene communities, local charities and sports organizations. He is a member of the Penetanguishene Rotary Club and served as its President in 1988-89. In 1992, he was recognized with a Paul Harris Fellowship for his contribution to Rotary and his community.

Peter and his wife, Mary Jane, have two sons, Adam and Jonathan, and four grandchildren. Peter and Mary Jane live in Penetanguishene. Mary Jane is the former Director of Educational Services at the Mental Health Centre in Penetanguishene.