Engineer.
Born at Winnebago, Minnesota in 1890, he graduated from the School of Mines at the University of Minnesota in 1913. That same year, he moved to Winnipeg to work with C. A. P. Turner. He later became Chief Engineer with Carter-Halls-Aldinger and, in 1944, was one of the original partners in its successor, the Commonwealth Construction Company. He remained associated with the firm until retirement in 1956.
Among the buildings outside Manitoba with which he assisted in the construction were Chateau Lake Louise, Banff Springs Hotel, and the Hudson's Bay Company stores in Edmonton and Vancouver. In 1966, he was made an honorary life members of the Association of Professional Engineers of Manitoba.
He married Helen Polly Petrie (?-1969) and they had two children: Margaret Laura Fosness (1917-2013, wife of George O. May) and John Petrie Fosness (1921-?). He was a member of the Crescent Fort Rouge United Church.
He died at Winnipeg on 14 July 1973 and was buried with his wife in the Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens.
Birth registration [John Fosness], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Helen Polly Fosness], Winnipeg Free Press, 7 May 1969, page 39.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 16 July 1973, page 29.
Obituary [Margaret Laura May], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 March 2013.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 September 2022
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