Entrepreneur.
Born at Radisson, Saskatchewan on 23 January 1921, son of an itinerant Lutheran pastor, his childhood was spent at several places in rural Saskatchewan and Manitoba. While a teenager, he moved to Winnipeg and worked for the Canadian National Railways. He later opened a restaurant and started Red River Construction.
While on holiday in Mexico, he was inspired by the riverboats operating there and decided, after returning home, to build his own replica sternwheeler. In early 1965, he commissioned the Purvis Boat Company to construct the Paddlewheel Queen at a cost of about $200,000. It was launched at Selkirk in June 1965 and plied the waters of the Red River as a tourism business.
He died at Selkirk on 17 November 2010.
See also:
Remembering the Riverboats by Adrian Ames
Manitoba History, Number 49, June 2005Northern Prairie Ships: Paddlewheel Princess
Northern Prairie Ships: Paddlewheel Queen
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 20 November 2010.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 February 2022
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