Memorable Manitobans: Thomas Walter “Tom” Sidebottom (1929-2016)

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Thomas Walter Sidebottom
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Salesman.

Born at the St. Boniface Hospital on 28 July 1929, son of George Walter Sidebottom (1903-1975) and Winifred Ada Hardy (1906-1985), he grew up in St. Vital and attended Glenwood School. He worked as a newspaper boy, red cap at the CPR Winnipeg Station, Eaton’s deliveryman, elevator installer, railway crewman in Alberta, construction painter at Kitimat, British Columbia, and fireman with the St. Vital Fire Department (1948-1952). After working for Metropolitan Life, he partnered in 1960 with Allan Foster to establish FAST Distributors to import flowers from Italy. He began selling real estate in 1962, joining the firm of Oliver, Brown and Schragg. He bought out his partners in 1965 and developed properties in Winnipeg, Florida, and New Mexico. Keenly interested in Indigenous art, he had a gallery in his real estate office and encouraged artists throughout Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. In 1975, he joined the sale team at Qualico and was still on its payroll at the time of his death. He helped to develop the River Park South, Sage Creek, and Whyte Ridge areas of Winnipeg. He was an active member of the Masons (Three Pillars Lodge, 33rd degree) and Khartum Shriners, and had a particular interest in the Shriners’ Hospital for Crippled Children. He died at Winnipeg on 26 November 2016 and was buried in the St. Vital Cemetery. He is commemorated by Sidebottom Drive in Winnipeg.

Sources:

Obituary [Winifred Ada Sidebottom], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 July 1985, page 20.

“Community builder has some street cred,” The Lance, 8 August 2012, page 1.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 December 2016.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Ed Labossiere and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 January 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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