Philip Sonny Orsino passed away last week, surrounded by family. He was 70 years old.
According to his obituary, Orsino started his professional life in the accounting field before becoming a co-founder of Century Wood Door in the early 1980s. Century Wood Door merged with Premdor in the late 1980s and in the early 2000s became Masonite International.
Orsino retired in 2005 and, per his obituary, “joined Onex Corporation … where he was appointed president of Jeld-Wen Inc.” in 2011. Other sources indicate he served as president of Jeld-Wen for three years, retiring again in 2014.
Throughout the years, Orsino also served as a director of RSI Home Products Inc. and Tomkins Limited, as chair of Tru Tech Inc., and as a consultant to ODL Canada. He continued to use his talents in accounting as well.
Orsino was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2004, his obituary says, adding that he also was the recipient of Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year Award in 2003, and received the University of Toronto’s Distinguished Business Alumni Award from the Rotman School of Management in 2002.
Orsino’s obituary further states that he “was most proud of his work with the Canadian healthcare system,” and was formerly chair of the board of trustees for the University Health Network (UHN). He was responsible for the establishment of the Philip S. Orsino Hematology Centre, Chair in Leukemia Research endowment, and the founding of the Philip S. Orsino Cell Therapy Facility. He was an Honorary Trustee of UHN and at his death was a board member and the audit chair of the UHN Foundation.
His full obituary can be found HERE.