GOTLIEB, Allan Ezra - (1928-2020) - Passed away peacefully in his 93rd year at home in Toronto on Saturday, April 18, 2020 of cancer and Parkinson's disease.
A loving, caring, and supportive husband, he leaves behind his wife, Sondra Gotlieb, whom he married in Winnipeg in 1955.
Preceded in death by his parents, David and Sally Gotlieb of Winnipeg, he is also survived by his sister, Judith Shotten, of Jerusalem, Israel.
He was the loving father of Rebecca, who predeceased him in 2003, and he leaves behind his daughter Rachel and son Marc (Lauren).
He was also the loving grandfather of Charles David Ham, Fanny and Joe Dickson, as well as of Sally, Rose, and Louis Gotlieb, benefited so much from his warmth, humor, care.
A Rhodes scholar and graduate of Berkeley, Oxford, and Harvard, Allan taught law at Oxford before returning to Canada to join the Department of External Affairs. He held a number of senior positions over the course of a distinguished career in public service, including serving as deputy minister of several government departments before returning to External Affairs as undersecretary of state.
Between 1982 and 1990 he served as Canada's ambassador to the United States, an experience recounted in memoirs published in 2006.
He was made Companion to the Order of Canada in 1987.
Upon retiring from public service, he and Sondra moved to Toronto. Subsequently Allan was appointed Chairman of the Donner Canada foundation and Sotheby's Canada, and also served as advisor to several legal firms, and as director on national and international boards.
A trustee of the Art Gallery of Ontario and passionate for the arts, Allan was a collector of 19th-century prints and drawings, Victorian tiles, and Surrealist illustrated books, collections gifted to the AGO, the Fischer Rare Book Library, and other institutions.
Allan was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery following a family graveside service.
He will be dearly missed by his loving wife, his children, sister, and grandchildren, all of whom cherish the memory of his care, intelligence, humor, and devotion to family.
A public celebration of Allan's life is planned for a future date.
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