Fabian O'Dea

Fabian Aloysius O'Dea, QC (January 20, 1918 – December 12, 2004) was a lawyer and the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland, Canada. 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).

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.

Awards and honours