Gaetano Gagliano (; August 24, 1917 – April 14, 2016) was an Italian-born Canadian entrepreneur who founded St. Joseph Communications and

Salt + Light Television Salt + Light Television is a Canadian multi-lingual Category B television channel owned by the not-for-profit Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and based in Toronto, Ontario. The channel broadcasts faith-based programming for Roman Cath ...

Career and family

Gagliano was born in

Cattolica Eraclea Cattolica Eraclea (; scn, Catòlica) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about south of Palermo and about northwest of Agrigento Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκρ ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, on August 24, 1917, and immigrated to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario, Canada in 1956. He first worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway before launching St. Joseph Communications which eventually became the largest private communications company in Canada. He and his wife, Giuseppina, had 10 children, including

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

. Gagliano died on April 14, 2016 at his home in

Woodbridge, Ontario Woodbridge is a very large suburban community in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, along the city's border with Toronto. It occupies the city's entire southwest quadrant, west of Highway 400, east of Highway 50, north of Steeles Avenue, and generally s ...

at the age of 98.

Honours

He was named a Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester in 1992, and a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 1998. He has received honorary doctorates from Canadian Universities. In 2007, he was made a Commander (or Commendatore in Italian) of the Order of the Star of Solidarity from the Government of Italy.

References

1917 births 2016 deaths People from Cattolica Eraclea Italian emigrants to Canada Businesspeople from Sicily Canadian Roman Catholics Businesspeople from Ontario Canadian printers Knights of the Order of St. Sylvester Members of the Order of Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada {{Canada-business-bio-stub