Bernard (Ben) Tierney died peacefully at home on Tuesday, February 14, 2017, after a courageous battle with an aggressive cancer. He was born the sixth of six children to Matthew Tierney and Catherine Tierney (nee Cairns) on May 14, 1935 in Ayr, Scotland.

At the age of 17, Ben Tierney emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio (1952). He then moved to Toronto where he attended the Ontario College of Art and met his former wife, Joan Marilyn (nee Moore). Beginning as a copy runner with the Calgary Herald in 1958, Ben rose to successively more challenging positions as a journalist. While working for the Edmonton Journal in the 1960’s, he was awarded a Fellowship at Massey College, University of Toronto. He joined Southam News as a Parliamentary Correspondent in 1969, and subsequently became a Foreign Correspondent for newspapers across Canada. From 1972 to 1994, he was based in Paris, Washington D.C., Ottawa, Vancouver and Hong Kong. Ben covered major events on-the-ground, such the UK Miner’s Strike (1974), the Falklands War (1982), the Salvadoran Civil War (1980s), and the Tiananmen Square massacre in China (1989). He was also recognized for bringing social issues, such as child labour in the carpet industry (1991), to the attention to Canadian readers.

Ben will be missed by his brother Daniel Tierney and sister Elizabeth Kerr, by his children Danalyn and Robin (David), by his grand-children John-James, James Michael (Glenda), Ian Spencer (Irene), James Benedict, Jackson Ellis (Claire), and Lara Rose, by his great grand-daughter Daisy Michelle, and by his loving nieces and nephews in Scotland.

Mass will be celebrated for Ben at St. Margaret’s Cathedral in Ayr, Scotland on Tuesday, March 14th at 10 a.m. A celebration of Ben’s life will be held in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive, on Friday, April 21, 2017 at 2 p.m.

“In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Victoria Cool Aid Society or other organizations that assist homeless people without discrimination.”

The family thanks all those who offered condolences over the phone, by email, and on social media following Ben’s death.

Condolences may also be offered to the family below.

McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com

 

  • Shelly Abuhamada (née Capraru)

    Dearest Tierney family…our thoughts are with you fondly remembering Ben. Love you all…and him. One of a kind…

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