Civil servant, community activist.
Born at Montreal, Quebec in 1924, he moved with his family to Fort Erie, Ontario at an early age. After graduating from trade school in 1941, he apprenticed as an aircraft electrician. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 and was a bomb aimer and observer in RAF Bomber Command. He flew 30 missions with the 102 Squadron.
After the war, he returned to Fort Erie where he met and married Thelma Yvonne Pooler (1926-2006). They had six children. In 1946, he began a 35-year-career in the federal civil service, living successively at Prescott, Ottawa, Fredericton, and Winnipeg, retiring in 1980 as Chief of Industrial Development for the Western Region of Employment and Immigration.
He was active with several organizations, including the Seniors Bureau of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, Winnipeg Youth Justice Committee, Manitoba Aviation Council, Canadian Immigration Historical Society, and Junior Achievement. He was a founding member of Cansurmount in Manitoba, an organization that uses cancer survivors to provide counselling to cancer patients and their families. He was a member of the Co-ordinating Committee of the Manitoba Commemorative Names Project, where over 4,000 lakes and rivers in Manitoba were named after people killed in active service in the Second World War. He was a member (1977-1995), President (1983), and Historian (1984-1995) of the Wartime Pilots and Observers Association.
In recognition of his community service, he received a Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002).
He died at Calgary, Alberta on 9 December 2011.
Obituary [Themla Yvonne Cheffins], Winnipeg Free Press, 5 February 2006.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 14 December 2011.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 22 November 2024
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.
Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text:
Custom SearchBrowse surnames beginning with:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | ZBrowse deaths occurring in:
1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.caCriteria for Memorable Manitobans | Suggest a Memorable Manitoban | Firsts | Acknowledgements
Help us keep
history alive!
