Memorable Manitobans: John Leslie Bodie (1909-1997)

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John Leslie Bodie
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Businessman, municipal official.

Born at Carman on 7 November 1909, he worked at the Bank of Montreal then, after studies at the University of Manitoba, he joined the accounting department of the Dominion Bridge Company in 1929. In time, he became successively the purchasing agent, office manager, assistant comptroller, and manager of personnel and industrial relations. He was also a director of Clay Law Limited and President of the Galt Building Holding Company. In 1955, he was transferred to Edmonton as Vice-President and Manager of Standard Iron and Engineering Works Limited, a subsidiary of Dominion Bridge. He became Manager of Dominion Bridge in 1958 and General Manager for Alberta in 1960. He retired in 1962 to become Vice-President of British-American Construction and Materials (BACM) Limited, a company that was later known as Genstar Corporation.

On 13 August 1936, he married Florence Woodhouse, with whom he had two children, daughter Brenda and son Douglas. He served as Honorary President of the Boy Scouts Council (North East District of Winnipeg), Lieutenant of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlands (1942-1948), member of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Civics Bureau and Vice-President of the Personnel Association of Greater Winnipeg.

He ran unsuccessfully as a Conservative candidate for the Springfield constituency in the 1949 federal election, and as a Liberal candidate for the Kildonan-Transcona constituency in the 1953 provincial election. He was elected to the East Kildonan School Board in 1945, becoming its Chair in 1947. He was elected Mayor of East Kildonan in 1947 and was councillor of the Village of Dunnottar, where he had a summer home, starting in 1953. He was a member of the Civic Election Committee of Ward Three in Winnipeg. In 1953, he was appointed to the Board of the Manitoba Power Commission. He was active in the Manitoba Association of Urban Municipalities since its founding in 1950, serving as its President in 1954. After his move to Edmonton, he served on the Edmonton city council from 1962 to 1968.

He died at Edmonton, Alberta on 10 March 1997.

Sources:

Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Western Municipal News, July 1954, page 193.

“BACM lists shares on 2 stock exchanges,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 June 1965, page 22.

Historical Biographies of Mayors and Councillors, 1892-2006, Edmonton Public Library.

We thank Christian Cassidy for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 31 October 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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