MHS Centennial Organization: The Winnipeg Foundation

Link to:
Board Members | Executive Directors | Solicitors | Sources

The Winnipeg Foundation was established in June 1921, the first community foundation in Canada, with an initial donation of $100,000 from William Forbes Alloway. He saw the creation of the Foundation as a way to give back to his community. On his death in 1930, his entire estate was left to the Foundation along with that of his wife, Elizabeth Maclaren Alloway, providing a total endowment of some $2 million. It has since grown to be one of the largest community foundations in North America.

On 20 April 2021, an MHS Centennial Organization Award was presented to the Foundation by Gordon Goldsborough and Dan Furlan.

First Advisory Board and Staff of the Winnipeg Foundation, 1921.
Left to right: R. B. McElheran, E. Parnell, C. P. Wilson (Solicitor), T. G. Mathers, R. M. Dennistoun, H. J. Macdonald, and P. Lowe (Secretary).
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Dennistoun Diaries.

Advisory Board Members

Member	Period	Comment
Richard Archer	2005-2008
David Barnard	2022-?
George Bass	2017-?
Hazel Borys	2019-?
Brian Bowman	2015-?	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Richard R. Bracken	2007-2016	Board Chair (2010-2012)
Doneta A. Porteous Brotchie	2009-2021	Board Chair (?-2021)
Tom Bryk	2012-?	Board Chair (2022-?)
Archibald McTavish Campbell (1852-1942)	1927-1942
Tina Chen	2021-?
Phil Chiappetta	2021-?
Robert M. Chipman	1982-1986	President, Megill-Stephenson Company Limited
David Cohen	2007-2018
Catherine L. Cook MD	2005-2016
Roderick Alexander Copland (1909-1959)	1951-1959	President, Oldfield, Kirby and Gardner
Garnet Coulter (1882-1975)	1943-1954	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Robert Maxwell Dennistoun (1864-1952)	1921-1928	Founding Director
Robert George Brian Dickson (1916-1998)	1967-1973
Carolyn Duhamel	2009-2020
Spencer Duncanson	2009-2020
Paul Guyot DuVal (1893-1970)	1955-1966
Albert El Tassi	2012-?
Seymour James Farmer (1878-1951)	1923-1924	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Colin Campbell Ferguson (1878-1938)	1929-1938
Frank Oliver Fowler (1861-1945)	1922-1923	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Daniel Freidman	2017-?
William Hicks Gardner (1875-1951)	1942-1951
Robert Grant Graham (1931-2000)	1977-1984	President, Inter-City Gas Limited
Tracy Graham	2012-?
Deborah Gray	2012-2016
Gordon Clarke Hall (1921-1990)	1973-1990
Marsha Pearlman Hanen (1936-2019)	1993-1998	President, University of Winnipeg
Gregg Hanson	1999-2012	Board Chair (2006-2009)
Helen Frances Hayles (1929-2021)	1980-2001	Executive Director, Volunteer Centre of Winnipeg; Board Chair (1997-2000)
James Arthur Hillman (1919-2007)	1976-1993	Vice-President and Controller, Great-West Life Assurance Company
Alan Grant Howison (1932-2005)	1975-1976	Resident Manager, Richardson Securities of Canada
Dr. June James	1997-2008
Stephen “Steve” Juba (1914-1993)	1957-1977	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Samuel Michael “Sam” Katz	2004-2014	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
David S. Kaufman (1927-2010)	1977-1992	President, Silpit Industries Limited
Charles Kroft (1906-1984)	1969-1977	Chairman of the Board, National Grain Company Limited
Guy Joseph Kroft (1934-2020)	1992-2006
Gerry Labossiere	2012-2020
Gordon Lawson (1904-1995)	1962-1974	Vice-President (Finance), James Richardson & Sons Limited
Augustus Searle Leach (1909-1993)	1959-1974	Chairman of the Board, Federal Grain Limited
Joy Loewen	2019-?
Daniel “Dan” Lussier	2021-?
William Elliott Macara (1859-1929)	1922-1929
Daniel Alexander Macdonald (1858-1937)	1927-1937
Hugh John Macdonald (1850-1929)	1921-1922	Founding Director
Romulo Fernandez Magsino (1941-2022)	2005-2008
Patricia Mainville	2017-?
Thomas Graham Mathers (1859-1927)	1921-1927	Founding Director
Deborah J. McCawley	2007-2018	Board Chair (2016-2018)
Robert Benjamin McElheran (1877-1939)	1921-1926	Founding Director
Daniel McLean (1868-1950)	1928-1930	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Ewan Alexander McPherson (1879-1954)	1937-1954
Susan Millican	2006-2017	Board Chair (2013-2015)
Glen Murray	1998-2004	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
William “Bill” Norrie (1929-2012)	1979-2006	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Hugh Farquharson Osler (1881-1943)	1929-1943
Edward Parnell (1859-1922)	1921-1922	Founding Director
William Bruce “Bill” Parrish	1984-1996	Executive Vice-President, Parrish & Heimbecker Limited; Board Chair (1993-1996)
John Pollard	2019-?
Lawrence Oliver “Lawrie” Pollard (1928-2019)	1992-2006
Maureen Prendiville	2012-?
Robert G. Puchniak	2012-2018
Robert P. Purves (1927-1997)	1974-1991	President, Inter-Ocean Grain Company Limited
John Queen (1882-1946)	1935-1936, 1938-1942	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Gerald F. Reimer	1986-2006
Kathleen Margaret Richardson (1928-2019)	1970-1982
Muriel Sprague Richardson (1890-1973)	1944-1962
Diane Roussin	2018-?
Lesley Sacouman	2001-2016
Richard J. Scott	1990-2005	Board Chair (2001-2005)
George Edward Sharpe (1908-1985)	1955-1956	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Anita Southall	2017-?
Anna Meldred Speers (1908-1996)	1962-1970	President, R. James Speers Corporation Limited
Robert Ashley Steen (1933-1979)	1977-1979	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Eric Stefanson	2006-2011
Alan Edmund Tarr (1913-1995)	1950-1977	Vice-President and Treasurer, Monarch Life Assurance Company
Edgar Jordan Tarr (1881-1950)	1938-1942
Susan Ann Thompson	1989-1998	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Frederick Edgar Warriner (1884-1966)	1937	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Ralph Humphreys Webb (1886-1945)	1925-1927, 1930-1934	Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)
Sonya C. Wright	1982-1989

Executive Directors / Chief Executive Officers

Period	Executive Director / Chief Executive Officer
1921-1957	Peter Lowe (1887-1980) [Secretary]
1957-1976	Hugh Avery Benham (1911-1997)
1976-1989	Alan Grant Howison (1932-2005)
1989-1999	Daniel H. Kraayeveld
1999-2021	Richard “Rick” Frost
2021-?	Sky Bridges

Solicitors

Period	Solicitor
?-?	Charles Patrick Wilson (1859-1931)
?-?	William Cleland Hamilton (1881-1943)

See also:

All Western Dollars by Peter Lowe
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Season 1945-46

A Remedy for Wooden Legs and Dead Hands: The Early Years of the Winnipeg Foundation by Gordon Goldsborough
Manitoba History, Number 66, Spring 2011

All Within My Power: The Life of William Forbes Alloway by Tim Higgins
Manitoba History, Number 67, Winter 2012

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Alloway and Champion Arch (Waterfront Drive, Winnipeg)

Sources:

Photograph of the first Advisory Board of the Winnipeg Foundation, Diaries of R. M. Dennistoun, Archives of Manitoba.

“Alloway wills all to local charities,” Manitoba Free Press, 27 February 1930, page 10.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 June 2023