Grain merchant.
Born at Listowel, Ontario in 1883, son of John Hamilton McDonald and Annie Vankleeck, he moved to Winnipeg in 1909 and became an accountant in the grain brokerage firm of Gooderham, Melady, and Sellers. He was a founder and one of the first directors of Federal Grain. He later formed his own companies, McDonald Grain Company (1925) and Dominion Briquettes and Chemicals Company (1932). He was associated with Killbery Industries and was President of the Western Agricultural Supply Company, a distributor of agricultural equipment in Manitoba.
On 18 March 1915, he married Marion Cecil Drury (1890-1965, daughter of Charles L. Drury) at Simcoe, Ontario and they had five children: Marion Vankleeck McDonald (1915-1981), Elizabeth Brownlee “Betty” McDonald (1921-2008, wife of John Whitla Green-Armytage, daughter-in-law of John Crichton Green-Armytage), C. Ian D. McDonald (?-?), Julian Hugh McDonald, and Cynthia Anne McDonald (1928-2017, wife of James Alexander Cockburn Grant and Andrew Hunter). The family lived initially at 260 Wellington Crescent but were among the first residents of the Tuxedo suburb, at 121 Park Boulevard.
He died while on vacation at Vancouver, British Columbia on 25 March 1956 and was buried in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery. He left an estate valued in excess of $1.7 million, with public bequests left to The Winnipeg Foundation, Winnipeg Children's Hospital, Listowel General Hospital, Sir Hugh John Macdonald Memorial Hostel, and Knox Church at Listowel.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Carey House (121 Park Boulevard, Winnipeg)
Ontario marriage registration [John Hamilton McDonald, Marion Cecil Drury], Ancestry.
Birth registrations [Marion Van Klee McDonald, Elizabeth Brunlee McDonald], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [Elizabeth Brownlee McDonald, John Whitla Green-Armgtage], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Cynthia Anne McDonald wed in chancel of St. George's,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 September 1951, page 13.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 27 March 1956, page 14.
“Funeral service Thursday for J. H. McDonald,” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 March 1956, page 8.
Obituary [John McDonald], Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 29 March 1956, page 5.
“Grain magnate left $1,713,676,” Calgary Albertan, 15 August 1956, page 10.
Obituary [Marion Drury McDonald], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 April 1965, page 11.
Obituary [Elizabeth Green-Armytage], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 November 2008.
Obituary [Cynthia Anne Hunter], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 March 2017.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Oliver Bernuetz (Legislative Library of Manitoba) for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 20 December 2023
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