Memorable Manitobans: Vern I. Simonsen (1931-2018)

Lawyer, judge.

Born on a farm near Redvers, Saskatchewan in 1931, one of eight children of Danish immigrants Simon K. Simonsen (?-1980) and Anna K. Simonsen (1897-1969), he attended Luther College (Regina) and Dana College (Blair, Nebraska) then worked as a high school teacher in rural Saskatchewan and The Pas. He attended the Manitoba Law School, graduating with the Manitoba Gold Medal in Law, and was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1959. He practiced litigation law with the firm of Scarth, Honeyman, Scarth, later known as Scarth, Simonsen, Dooley, Olson and Weins until 1982. He was a Bencher (1968-1974), Life Bencher (1974-2018) and President (1973-1974) of the Law Society of Manitoba. Appointed as a Puisne Judge on the Court of Queen’s Bench in September 1982, he served until retirement in October 1997. He was a trustee for the Tuxedo School District, a member of the Winnipeg Police Commission, co-founder of Tennis Seventies, and Honorary Danish Consul in Winnipeg. He died at Winnipeg on 8 April 2018.

Sources:

Obituary [Anna K. Simonsen], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 November 1969, page 36.

Obituary [Simon K. Simonsen], Winnipeg Free Press, 15 December 1980, page 60.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 14 April 2018.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 8 August 2019

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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