Physician, community activist.
Born at Newdale on 11 January 1919, one of five children of Helen Emma Stacey (1886-1920) and Dr. Robert Duncan Kippen (1875-1951), he attended school at Newdale and Minnedosa. He studied medicine at the University of Manitoba, graduating in 1942. After interning at the Winnipeg General Hospital, he joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, serving from 1943 to 1946 in the North West European Campaign as a medical officer with 18 Field Ambulance. He also took on duties at a military hospital in England during that time. On returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Winnipeg Clinic where he practised until retirement in 1994.
In 1948, he obtained a Fellowship in Gastroenterology at the University of Chicago under Drs. Joe Kirsner and Walter Palmer, and brought his specialty, as well as endoscopy procedures, to the Winnipeg Clinic. He also held the position of associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. He was one of the pioneers in the development of the Manitoba Medical Service, which became the model for the later development of Medicare in Manitoba. He was also active in medical politics, serving as President of the Manitoba Medical Association (1967-1968) and Canadian Medical Association (1970). In recognition of his community service, he received a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977).
He was married twice, first on 29 June 1942 to nurse Marguerite Dorothy Badger (1917-2009) at Winnipeg with whom he had four children before separating. The family lived at 269 Oxford Street. His personal interests included curling, hunting, gardening, golf, sailing his Y-flyer, and holidaying at West Hawk Lake. Following his retirement, he and his second wife Marga Roesler (1931-2016) moved to Kelowna, British Columbia.
He died at Kelowna on 19 February 2004 and his ashes were interred in the family plot in the Oldale Cemetery. The Dr. Duncan Kippen Memorial Fund was established to provide bursary aid to rural Manitoba students entering the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba.
Marriage registration [Duncan Lloyd Kippen, Marguerite Dorothy Badger], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Dorothy Badger], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 Septembr 1979, page 65.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 6 March 2004.
Obituary [Marguerite Dorothy Kippen], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 July 2009.
We thank Lane Murray for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 9 February 2025
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