Chartered accountant, businessman.
Born at Strathclair on 7 January 1923 to Ethel Maude Beatrice McKerchar (1898-1954) and Verne Henry Essery, he lived and worked in Winnipeg for the greater part of his life. He served in the Royal Canadian Navy in Canada and Europe for four years during the Second World War. Having first met Edith McDowell (1919-2014) prior to his deployment overseas, they were married at Winnipeg in 1946, and went on to have four children.
His business career started as an articling accounting student at George A. Touche and Company. He was admitted as a Chartered Accountant in February 1947. In 1958, he became President and General Manager of Brooks Equipment Limited; President, General Manager and owner of Cummins Diesel Sales and Service Limited, both of Winnipeg. Between 1952 and 1959 he was a lecturer at the University of Manitoba. On 16 May 1973, he was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba. He retired from his active business life in April 1979.
Believing strongly in giving back to the community, he was an active volunteer who served as Treasurer and Board member for the Society for Crippled Children and Adults; President of the United Way of Winnipeg; President and Governor of Winnipeg Winter Club; Treasurer, Kinsmen Club of Winnipeg; founding member of Silver Heights United Church; Chairman of the General Board of St. Andrew’s River Heights United Church and Chairman of Finance; Treasurer of the Christ Moravian Church; Trustee of Last Post Fund (for Veterans); Director and Treasurer of Manitoba Chartered Accountants Foundation Inc.; and Trustee of the Chartered Accountants of Manitoba Benevolent Association. His leisure pastimes were genealogy and spending time with the family at their cabin at Caddy Lake. The couple lived in Calgary, Alberta in their later years.
He died at Calgary on 15 April 2010.
Birth registration [Edwin Roy McKerchar Essery], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 2010.
“Edwin Roy McKerchar Essery,” Elinor Lawson Family Tree, Ancestry.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 19 September 2025
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