Herbert Orval Sparrow, (January 4, 1930 – September 6, 2012) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician. At the time of his retirement, Sparrow was the longest-serving member of the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

, and was the last remaining member of the

Upper House An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

to have been appointed by

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Lester Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...

. He was appointed on February 9, 1968, and sat as a member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

representing the province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. Sparrow retired from the Senate upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 on January 4, 2005. Sparrow was a businessman, farmer and rancher. He opened one of the first Canadian KFC locations in North Battleford, Saskatchewan in the 1950s and still operated the establishment until his death. Sparrow was involved in many worthwhile projects in the city of North Battleford. His contracting company "Westman Contracting LTD" helped develop many parts of the Killdeer area in North Battleford. He also provided lunches to underprivileged children at local schools and helped form the Centennial School for special-need children. In 2008, he was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. Sparrow was in excellent health despite his advanced age until 2012 when he had a massive stroke and had to be transferred to RUH in Saskatoon where he died less than a week later.

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* 1930 births 2012 deaths Canadian senators from Saskatchewan Liberal Party of Canada senators Members of the Order of Canada Politicians from Saskatoon 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada 21st-century members of the Senate of Canada {{Saskatchewan-politician-stub