Former Manitoba Senator Rod Zimmer has died. He was 73.

Zimmer was born in Saskatchewan but became a well-known businessman and Liberal fundraiser in Manitoba. He resigned from the chamber in 2013 for health reasons.

He was appointed by former prime minister Paul Martin in 2005 after working as an executive at Canwest Capital Corporation and the Manitoba Lotteries Foundation. He was also a known sports enthusiast and served on the board of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

He battled a number of ailments over the years including a recent bout with pneumonia. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2003.

The former senator still owes $176,000 in expenses relating to the auditor general's probe of Senate spending, the largest sum of any member of the Red Chamber.

Michael Ferguson and his auditors found that while Zimmer declared Manitoba to be his primary residence for living and travel expense purposes he actually spent 613 of 731 days during the audit period in Ottawa. Zimmer took issue with his findings, declaring: "Winnipeg was always my home."

Zimmer made headlines in 2011 when he married a woman, Maygan Sensenberger, who is more than four decades his junior.

The couple raised eyebrows when they got into a fight during an Air Canada flight destined for Saskatoon. Sensenberger was arrested after some passengers on the same flight reported that she was arguing with Zimmer and threatening to slit his throat. She pleaded guilty to causing a disturbance and was given a 12-month suspended sentence and one year probation for the incident.

Zimmer supported his wife throughout the court proceedings and insisted he never felt threatened by her.