Civil servant.
Born at Winnipeg in October 1910, son of Peter Elder Hodgson (c1873-1964) and Clara Jane Phipps (1881-1935), he attended St. John’s Technical High School and graduated in 1932 with a degree from the University of Manitoba, specializing in agronomy and agricultural economics. From 1933 to 1940 he assisted Frank Leith Skinner in his horticultural work at Dropmore.
During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Air Force, being captured by German forces and spending three months in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. He served as a vocational training supervisor for returning veterans from 1946 to 1947, Assistant Park Superintendent for the City of Winnipeg from 1947 to 1950, and Parks Board Superintendent from 1950 to his death. In the latter capacity, he was instrumental in setting up Winnipeg’s Rainbow Stage.
On 22 October 1938, he married Kathleen Helen Boulton (1913-1991) at Winnipeg and they had two sons and a daughter. He was a member of the Logan Neighbourhood House Board, Norquay Neighbourhood House Board, Welfare Council of Greater Winnipeg Board, city representative on the Greater Winnipeg Mosquito Abatement Board, Manitoba Greenkeepers Association Board, Winnipeg Summer Theatre Association Board, Canadian Legion, American Institute of Park Executives, American Association of Zoological Parks, Rotary Club, Westminster United Church, and Masons (Northern Light Lodge No. 10).
He died at Winnipeg on 1 February 1962 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery. He is commemorated by the T. R. Hodgson Park in Winnipeg.
Birth registration [Thomas Rupert Hodgson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Death registration [Clara Jane Hodgson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [Thomas Rupert Hodgson, Kathleen Helen Boulton], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Parks chief dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 February 1962, page 12.
Obituary [Thomas Rupert Hodgson], Winnipeg Free Press, 2 February 1962, page 31.
Obituary [Peter Elder Hodgson], Winnipeg Tribune, 7 April 1964, page 21.
Obituary [Kathleen Helen Hodgson], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 November 1991, page 59.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 8 October 2023
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