Farmer, rancher, livestock buyer.
Born at Antler, Saskatchewan on 5 March 1908, son of John Devlin (c1883-?) and Florence Gertrude Ross (1887-?), his childhood was spent at Russell and Asessippi where his father had a ranch. As an adult, he worked as a livestock buyer for Canada Packers at Winnipeg and Saskatoon. During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Canadian Navy, being discharged in 1948 as a Lieutenant Commander. He farmed and ranched in the Eriksdale and Arborg areas and was active in local affairs, standing as a Liberal candidate for the Fisher constituency in the 1962 and 1966 provincial general elections. He and wife Janet Barton Gillespie (1911-1986) had two children. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion (Eriksdale and Arborg branches). After retirement, he worked with the Department of Indian Affairs and Canadian Executive Service in British Columbia, Manitoba, Iran, Grenada, and Ecuador. He died at Burnaby, British Columbia on 14 June 1981.
His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:
Tales of Asessippi: The Robbery at Asessippi
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 18, Number 2, Autumn 1972Tales of Asessippi: The Tent Store at Asessippi 1919
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 19, Number 1, Autumn 1973Tales of Asessippi: Christmas at Asessippi, 1915
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 19, Number 2, Winter 1974
Birth registration [Florence Gertrude Ross], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1916 Canada census, Ancestry.
Death registration, British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 24 June 1981, page 83.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 3 January 2018
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