Public speaker.
Born at Winnipeg on 5 April 1908, daughter of Sarah Weir (1876-1852) and Walter Blakeley Hembroff (1880-1945), her speaking ability was evident at an early age as she gave readings and recitals of poetry and prose. She was the valedictorian of her graduating class at Machray School. She then attended the MacPhail School of Music and Dramatic Art at the University of Minnedosa, graduating in 1927.
She returned to Winnipeg with a plan to teach public speaking, drama, and poetry to children and public speaking to adults, and gave readings at the Carnegie Library. Her presentations and radio broadcasts caught the attention of a promotions manager at the Canadian Pacific Railway who hired her to assist with publicity for the company. She worked with a CPR photographer to create hand-coloured slides to illustrate her talks and he took photographs of her that later appeared on the covers of the Hudson's Bay Company's The Beaver magazine and a yearbook of the Government of Canada. She joined the faculty of St. Mary's Academy, leaving after several years when her son was born.
She travelled extensively, including a 1932 adventure with four friends where they drove her father's car to Los Angeles, California to attend the Olympic games. On 18 June 1938, she married John David “Jack” MacDonald (?-1985) at the Winnipeg home of William Talbot Allison. They subsequently had a son. In later years, she spent winters in Arizona and The Bahamas.
She died at Winnipeg on 2 February 2011 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
Marriage registration [Sarah Weir, Walter Blakeley Hembroff], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth registration [Jean Alexandria Hembroff], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [Jean Alexander Hembroff, John David MacDonald], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Jean A. Hembroff weds in quiet ceremony,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 June 1938, page 13.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 12 February 2011.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 31 December 2024
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