Memorable Manitobans: Malcolm Rutherford MacCharles (1894-1991)

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Malcolm Rutherford MacCharles
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Physician.

Born at Cypress River on 18 April 1894, son of Roderick William MacCharles and Florence Armenia MacLean (?-1945), he moved to Manitou at an early age. He attended Manitoba College (1911-1912) then the Manitoba Medical College (1913-1914) before serving with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in France. He was recalled to Canada in 1917 to complete his medical training.

In 1926 he joined the University of Manitoba as a demonstrator in Clinical Surgery. In the 1930s he became a key figure in the establishment of the Manitoba Medical Service, which became the Manitoba Health Services Commission. In 1946, he was a founding member of the Manitoba Clinic. Active in cancer research, he was President of the Canadian Cancer Institute (1963-1964).

In 1977 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Manitoba and received a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1982 he was inducted into the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt.

He was married twice, first to Jane “Jennie” Thompson (1894-1973) with whom he had two daughters and a son. He later married nurse Evelyn Houghtling (1915-2005). He was a member of Knox United Church and Niakwa Country Club, and an Honorary Life Member of the Manitoba Club.

He died at Winnipeg on 10 April 1991.

Sources:

Birth registration [Malcolm Rutherford MacCharles], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Attestation Papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.

“R. MacCharles, pioneer doctor, dies in hospital,” Winnipeg Tribune, 17 September 1946. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9]

Obituary [Jane MacCharles], Winnipeg Free Press, 29 September 1973, page 41.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 12 April 1991, page 19.

Obituary [Evelyn R. MacCharles], Winnipeg Free Press, 28 May 2005.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 26 November 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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