Memorable Manitobans: Lloyd Hugh Finch (1904-1967)

Architect.

Born in Alberta in September 1904, son of Rev. Calvin Wright Finch and Anna Marie Finch (1869-1938), he came to Manitoba at an early age, accompanying his family as his father preached at Ninga, Thornhill, and Rapid City before the family move to Winnipeg in 1914, residing at 1289 Wolseley Avenue. On 15 December 1924, he married Dorothy Jones (1904-1987) at Winnipeg and they had a son, Calvin Lloyd “Cal” Finch (b 1930). He graduated from the University of Manitoba (Architecture, 1926) and resided at Chicago, Illinois (1926-1932) after which he returned to work in Winnipeg. During the Second World War, he served as an Officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He operated under the business name of Lloyd Finch and Associates, and his work with Safeway Canada also included several buildings at other locations in Western Canada in the 1950s. He was a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Manitoba Association of Architects, Lions Club, and Niakwa Country Club. He died at the Misericordia Hospital on 6 April 1967 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
E. J. Aronovitch House	Wellington Crescent (south side, between Lanark and CNR tracks), Winnipeg	c1940-1941
Leonard Wolinsky House	Matheson Avenue (between Semple Street and Main Street), Winnipeg	c1940-1941
Aronovitch and Leipsic Ltd. Commercial Building [former Robinson store site]	Between Main and Albert Streets, Winnipeg	1941
Deanna Durbin Model Home	8 Kingston Row, Winnipeg	1944
Morley Shoe Store / Boyd Building [main floor]	384 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1945
Lord’s Furniture Store	1364 Main Street, Winnipeg	1947
Radio Industries Building (renovation)	120 Fort Street, Winnipeg	1947
Toronto Hide and Wool Building [expansion]	200 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1947
Zawidowski Funeral Home	561 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1948
Memorial Funeral Chapel / Zawidowski Funeral Home	724 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1948
Herbert Winston Fur Salon	425 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1948
Herb Carpentine [John Deere dealer]	153 Donald Street, Winnipeg	1948
Karr’s Drug Store	615 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1948
Lions Residence for the Blind	1041 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1948-1949
Carter Motors (expansion)	Portage Avenue at Maryland Street, Winnipeg	1949-1950
A. S. Bardal Funeral Home	Sherbrook Street at William Avenue, Winnipeg	1949-1950
Eagle-Lion Films of Canada Building	Good Street, Winnipeg	1950
Safeway Canada Store	Isabel Street and Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg	c1950
Safeway Canada Store	Luxton Avenue and Main Street, Winnipeg	c1950
Safeway Canada Store	St. Mary’s Road and St. Anne’s Road	c1950
Safeway Canada Store	Burnell Street and Portage Avenue	c1950
Safeway Canada Store	Ferry Road and Portage Avenue	c1950
Safeway Canada Store	Portage la Prairie	c1950
Jack Ellett’s Restaurant	718 Osborne Street, Winnipeg	1950
The Garry Theatre	Pembina Highway and Point Road, Winnipeg	1951
Levit Sigh Company Building	Notre Dame Avenue between Arlington and McPhillips Streets, Winnipeg	1952
Roblin General Hospital	Roblin	c1952
Maple Leaf School District No. 83 (10-room, frame and concrete, one storey school)	Morden	1953
Dalton Baptist Church	Dalton Street and Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg	1953
Clark Leatherdale Funeral Home (renovation)	232 Kennedy Street, Winnipeg	1953
Clearwater School District No. 2324 (four-room, frame and concrete, one-storey school)	Clearwater	1953
Newhead Investments Limited Hotel	southeast corner Edmonton Street at Graham Avenue, Winnipeg	1954	Demolished
Grant Park Shopping Centre (and area master plan)	between Cambridge and Wilton Streets, Scotland and Frederic [Taylor] Avenues, Winnipeg	1954-1956
Silverwood Dairies Garage, Jacob Crowley Manufacturing Co., Julliard Ltd., and Jacob Fashions (renovations)	Adelaide Street, Winnipeg	1954
Melita Consolidated School District (four-room and auditorium, frame and concrete, one-storey school)	Melita	c1954-1955
Lions Residence for the Blind (renovations)	1041 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1956
Canadian National Institute for the Blind Administration Building (expansion)	1031 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1956
Lions Residence for the Blind (expansion)	1041 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1957
Jack Ellett’s Restaurant (expansion)	718 Osborne Street, Winnipeg	1959
Carlton Inn	Carlton Street, Winnipeg	1960-1961	Demolished (2014-2015)
Niakwa Hotel	St. Anne’s Road, Winnipeg	1960-1961
Kildonan Motor Hotel	2100 Main Street, Winnipeg	1960-1961
Leon A. Brown Building	52 Donald Street, Winnipeg	1961
Charleswood Motor Hotel	3425 Roblin Boulevard, Winnipeg	1961-1962	Demolished
A. B. Dick Limited Building	Berry Street and Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg	1962
Gateview Apartment Block	15 Cornish Avenue, Winnipeg	1963
Windsorian Motor Hotel	Highway No. 59 / Lagimodiere Boulevard near CNR Symington Yard, Winnipeg	1963

Sources:

Marriage and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1906 & 1911 Canada censes, Automated Genealogy.

1916 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.

Birth notice, Winnipeg Free Press, 29 December 1930, page 19.

“Mrs. C.W. Finch dies at age of 69,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 January 1938, page 4.

“No slackening [E. J. Aronovitch Residence],” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 September 1940, page 22.

“Season’s trend [Leonard Wolinsky Residence],” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 September 1940, page 14.

“Five new stores are opened on former Robinson property,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 October 1940, page 8.

“Portage and Main - 1872 [former Robinson property],” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 October 1940, page 9.

“Deanna Durbin sponsors model home,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 February 1944, page 5.

“Morley Shoe Store,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 March 1945, page 7.

“Grand opening [Lord’s Furniture Store],” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 August 1947 page 14.

“Building permit total leaps to 14-year high [Zawidowski Funeral Home],” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 September 1947, page 3.

“Grand opening [Herbert Winston Fur Salon], Winnipeg Free Press, 4 March 1948, page 13.

“Karr’s Drug Store,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 May 1948, page 11.

“Grand opening [Herb Carpentine John Deere dealer],” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 September 1948, page 7.

“Memorial Funeral Chapel,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 November 1948, page 12.

“New building going up for Eagle-Lion Films,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 February 1950, page 10.

“Showroom window equals cost of first auto building [Carter Motors, C.G. Carter dealership],” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 February 1950, page 12.

“A.S. Bardal Funeral Home,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 March 1950, page 9.

“Dozen Supermarkets seen in greater Winnipeg area [Safety Canada Stores],” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 September 1950, page 3.

“Jack Ellett [...],” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 December 1950, page 7.

“Announcing the opening of the Greater Winnipeg’s newest streamlined theatre - The Garry,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 December 1951, page 5.

“Neon sigh plant for Winnipeg [Levit Sign Company],” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 January 1952, page 24.

“Tenders wanted [Roblin Hospital District No. 2],” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 August 1952, page 33.

“Maple Leaf School District No. 83 - Morden,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 August 1952, page 26.

[Photo, Dalton Baptist Church], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 April 1953, page 10.

“Clearwater School District No. 2324,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 June 1953, page 42.

“Announcing the opening of [... Clark Leatherdale Funeral Home], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 October 1953, page 11.

“Firm plans $1,000,000 hotel in city’s downtown district [Newhead Investment Hotel],” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 December 1953, page 3.

“Builders signal start on $13 million centre [Grant Park Shopping Centre and surrounding],” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 May 1954, pages 1 & 7.

Engagement notices, Winnipeg Free Press, 5 June 1954, page 19.

“Needle-trade firms moving their quarters [Silverwood Dairies garage, Jacob Crowley Manufacturing Co., Julliard Ltd., and Jacob Fashions],” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 July 1954, page 3.

“Melita Consolidated School District No. 440 [Melita School],” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 August 1954, page 12.

“Grant Park Plaza Development,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 May 1956, page 36.

“Ellett’s restaurants new additions,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 March 1959, page 14.

“Coffee break [Niakwa Hotel, Carlton Inn Hotel],” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 July 1960, page 3.

“Work to start soon on new Carlton Street Motel,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 August 1960, page 8.

“Duplex with double carport [636 Guelph Street],” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 November 1960, page 35.

“Hotel building boom hits Greater Winnipeg [West Kildonan Motel],” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 November 1960, page 58.

“To discuss hotel for Charleswood,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 February 1961, page 31.

[Photo caption, Leon A. Brown Building, 52 Donald Street], Winnipeg Free Press, 1 April 1961, page 50.

“Grand opening [Charleswood Motor Hotel], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 September 1962, page 4.

“Grant opening [Kildonan Motor Hotel],” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 August 1961, page 2.

“Two new city offices planned [A.B. Dick Limited Building],” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 January 1962, page 3.

“The Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg [4-storey Apartment, Cornish Avenue at Langside Street],” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 January 1963, page 30.

“New hotel assured of close ’cheque’ [Windsorian Motor Hotel],” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 February 1963, page 3.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 7 April 1967, page 26.

Obituary [Dorothy Finch], Winnipeg Free Press, 31 March 1987, page 36.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 14 May 2018

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