Historian.
Born at Langruth on 26 April 1920, son of Henrietta Knapp and John Hackett, the family moved to Winnipeg in 1922. During the Second World War, he enlisted in the Third Battalion Royal Winnipeg Rifles, serving as a Sergeant Instructor at the 100th Basic Training Centre, Portage la Prairie, and later overseas. He was part of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, suffered multiple wounds and returned to Canada. After convalescing, he took a Remedial Physical Training course in Portage la Prairie and, on qualifying, was posted as an instructor at Deer Lodge Hospital in Winnipeg. In 1948 he joined the sales staff of 3M Canada Inc., retiring in May 1982 after 34 years.
He enjoyed all forms of sport, but his greatest joy was golf. He joined the Assiniboine Golf Club in 1962 and in 2002 was honoured with an honorary life membership. He devoted much of his retirement years researching and compiling the history of Manitoba golf courses. His book, Manitoba Links: A Kaleidoscopic History of Golf was published in September 1998. In 2007, he was recognized by Golf Manitoba for his contribution to the game in Manitoba.
He died at Winnipeg on 24 January 2009 and was buried in the Waverley Memorial Gardens.
His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:
Golf Introduced into Manitoba: Samuel Bedson and a Link at Stony Mountain
Manitoba History, Number 28, Autumn 1994
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 31 January 2009.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 10 May 2020
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