CORNWALL – Former Cornwall Mayor Bob Kilger has died.
Kilger, who was a Liberal Member of Parliament for six years for the riding of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry and its predecessor Stormont-Dundas, died Monday night.
He was 77.
He was also mayor of Cornwall from 2006 and re-elected in 2010. He suffered a close loss to Leslie O’Shaughnessy in 2014.
He was also active in the sports scene, coaching the Cornwall Royals to victory at the Memorial Cup in 1981. He was also an NHL referee.
Kilger suffered bouts of cancer and heart issues during his time in office. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2011 and then a case of colon cancer in 2014, shortly before he left office.
Kilger was being treated at the Ottawa Heart Institute twice in early 2011 and credited those visits with discovering his cancer early.
His death brought reaction Tuesday afternoon from political circles.
“Bob was a passionate advocate for our region, and he was always a solid colleague to work alongside when I served as Mayor of North Dundas and SD&G Warden,” Conservative MP Eric Duncan wrote in a social media post.
Funeral arrangements are not yet known.