A giant in the Windsor-Essex labour community has passed away after a brief battle with cancer.
Gary Parent was the former president of the district labour council and the financial secretary of CAW Local 444.
His son Jason posted on Facebook just before 7:30, saying his dad passed away early Friday morning and said his dad is the strongest person he has ever known and he's so proud to call him dad.
Former CAW National President Ken Lewenza has known Parent for 40-years.
The two worked side-by-side for many years when Lewenza was president of Local 444.
Lewenza says the community has lost a labour giant and a true friend.
"We lost a labour giant, a community activist, a man that spent his entire life building a better tomorrow for not just union members but the community more generally," says Lewenza. "He was bigger than life."
He says Parent always wanted to make things better for the community.
"People that enjoy pensions and benefits today and enjoy the kind of standard of living that they're accustomed to and the equality of life they're accustomed to and the equality of live we expect for others is attributed to the incredible commitment of Gary Parent and he will be sadly missed," he says.
Lewenza says the two have a lot of great memories together.
"Gary was a mentor and he served I believe six presidents and all of us were better people as a result of him so I got lots of stories but I don't want to bore people today, I just want to tell the community of Windsor and Essex County that we lost a giant and he will be sadly missed," says Lewenza.
Parent retired from Chrysler in 2009 after 40 years with the company.
He was 77.
A rink at the Vollmer Centre in LaSalle is named after him.
Rink B is named the Gary L. Parent CAW Arena.
Parent is from LaSalle.