Sheet metal manufacturer.
Born at Sunny Brae, Nova Scotia in 1887, son of Edward MacDonald, he came to Manitoba with his brother James Daniel “Jim” MacDonald in 1904 on a harvesters’ excursion train, to a farm near Portage la Prairie. The brothers later formed the MacDonald Brothers Sheet Metal and Roofing Company, of which he was Secretary-Treasurer. Their younger brother John Edwin MacDonald later joined the company.
In 1930, the brothers were attracted to the aircraft industry, forming the MacDonald Brothers Aircraft Limited to manufacture floats for aircraft of Western Canada Airways. The firm became one of the world’s largest makers of seaplane floats. They built aircraft parts, farm implements, and electronic and radio equipment at a manufacturing plant at the Stevenson Field (now Richardson International Airport). In addition to being President and General Manager of the firm, MacDonald was President of Garrick Limited, Vice-President of Garrick Finance Limited, and a Director of the Air Industries and Transport Association of Canada.
In January 1915, he married Florence May Holley (1891-1969) and they had a daughter, Lois MacDonald (wife of Fraser McIntosh). He was a member of the Masons, Manitoba Club, Motor Country Club, and St. Andrew’s River Heights United Church.
He died at his summer home on Falcon Lake on 16 July 1949 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery. At the time of his death, he lived at 98 Niagara Street.
See also:
Manitoba Business: MacDonald Brothers Aircraft Company / Bristol Aerospace / Magellan Aerospace
“Aircraft head dies suddenly at summer home,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 July 1949, page 7.
Obituary [Florence May MacDonald], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 January 1970, page 33.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 27 May 2024
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