Community activist.
Born on the familyi farm near Oak Lake on 12 September 1904, son of John Gladstone Slimmon (1881-1970) and Maude Elizabeth Perdue (1882-1961), he farmed near Oak Lake from 1928 to 1939 when he began a 30-year career with the co-operative movement, starting as a field agent with Manitoba Co-op Wholesale and later with Federated Co-operatives after the amalgamation of the prairie co-ops. He was responsible for founding over 40 co-ops in Manitoba.
On retirement in 1970, he and his wife moved to Barbados to assist with development of co-operatives there under the sponsorship of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). From 1974 to 1977, they helped to establish farm production and marketing groups in Barbados with the Canadian University Services Overseas (CUSO). They returned to Canada in 1977 and moved to Brandon where he was active in local projects such as Westman Cable, Brandon Farmers' Market, and Seniors for Seniors Co-op. In 1981, he wrote the book People and Progress: A Co-op Story. He received a Distinguish Co-operator Award in 1990.
He was married three times. His first marriage on 18 November 1933 was to Jessie Janet Forrest (1914-1947) with whom he had three daughters, including Marguerite Isobel Slimmon (1937-2018, wife of Gene Cory). On 24 March 1949, he married teacher and nurse Nellie Henrietta Koester (1907-1996) and they had a daughter before divorcing in 1966. Later that year, he married Glenora Pearce.
He died at Brandon on 6 March 1995.
Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [Donald Hood Slemmon, Jessie Janet Forrest], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Social and personal,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 April 1949, page 12.
“Divorce decrees granted,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 November 1966, page 27.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 15 March 1995, page 33.
Obituary [Nell Slimmon], Brandon Sun, 2 January 1997, page 10.
Obituary [Marguerite Isobel Cory], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 November 2018.
Donald Hood Slimmon, Geni.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Ian Robson for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 20 March 2022
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