John Roche O'Dea (April 17, 1915 – June 6, 1998) was a business owner and politician in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. He represented St. John's South from 1959 to 1962 in the

Newfoundland House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Building in St. Jo ...

as a member of the

United Newfoundland Party The United Newfoundland Party was the name of two conservative parties in Newfoundland. Pre-Confederation The first UNP was a conservative party in the Dominion of Newfoundland led by Frederick C. Alderdice from 1928 to 1934. It was organized by ...

Family

The brother of

Fabian O'Dea Fabian Aloysius O'Dea, (January 20, 1918 – December 12, 2004) was a Newfoundland and Canadian lawyer and the fourth lieutenant governor of Newfoundland. Family He was the son of John V. O'Dea and May (Coady) O'Dea. In 1950, O'Dea marrie ...

, who served as

lieutenant governor of Newfoundland The lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador () is the viceregal representative in Newfoundland and Labrador of the , who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as w ...

in the 1960s, John Roche O'Dea was the son of John V. O'Dea and May (Coady) O'Dea, he was born in St. John's and educated at

Saint Bonaventure's College St. Bonaventure's College (commonly called St. Bon's) is an independent kindergarten to grade 12 Catholic School in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is located in the St. John's Ecclesiastical District, adjacent to the Roman Cat ...

, Loyola College and Memorial University College. O'Dea married Madeleine Connolly; the couple had five children, including

Brian O'Dea Brian O'Dea (born September 1, 1948) is a Canadian businessman, author, television personality, and former drug smuggler. He is best-known for a large marijuana smuggling enterprise he masterminded in the mid-1980s. Set up to move marijuana in b ...

Life and career

He began work with Newfoundland Brewery Ltd in 1934, later becoming managing director and then becoming president in 1963. O'Dea founded the United Newfoundland Party with

Augustine Duffy Augustine Michael Duffy (February 18, 1905 – July 26, 1966) was a businessman and politician in Newfoundland, Canada. He represented Ferryland from 1951 to 1952 and St. John's Centre from 1956 to 1962 in the Newfoundland House of Assembly. ...

in 1959. He was elected to the Newfoundland assembly later that year; he was defeated in 1962 when he ran for reelection as a Liberal. Newfoundland Brewery had been taken over by

Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Can ...

and, in 1968, he established a new brewery, Atlantic Brewing Co., at Stephenville. O'Dea was named chair of St. John's Metro Board in 1971. O'Dea died in St. John's on June 6, 1998.

References

1915 births 1998 deaths United Newfoundland Party MHAs {{Newfoundland-politician-stub