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William Edward Lumsden
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Curler, community activist.
Born at Brandon on 27 May 1907, son of Harry William Lumsden (?-1930) and Annie Dyer Boyd, he was raised in Elmwood and lived many years at East Kildonan. He was a partner in the real estate firm of Barber-Lumsden Limited until his retirement.
Active in sports circles, he organized the Elmwood Giants Pee Wee baseball league and coached baseball for many years. He was a founder of the Kelvin Community Club and served as President for two years. He was a member of the Winnipeg Parks Board for seven years during which he was instrumental in founding and fundraising for Aunt Sally’s Farm at Assiniboine Park. He served on an athletic committee of the Manitoba Centennial Corporation.
He was a member (53 years), President (1938-1939) and Secretary (15 years) of the Elmwood Curling Club. He served as President of the Manitoba Curling Association (1947-1948) and the Canadian Curling Association (1966-1967). He was made an honorary life member in several local curling clubs. He is credited with the international diplomacy that led to the agreement with Air Canada to sponsor the World Curling Championship in 1968. He was chairman of the Macdonald Brier in 1970 in Winnipeg and played a prominent role in the organization of the 1978 Silver Broom. In his memory, each year, from 1983 to 2007, the Bill Lumsden Memorial Award was presented to an “unsung hero or heroine” in Manitoba curling circles.
On 3 September 1932, he married Eveline “Eve” Wallace (c1911-1995) at Winnipeg. They had three children: Jean Margaret Lumsden (1934-2019, wife of James Gordon Smith), Pat Lumsden (wife of Ken McDonald), and William Harry Frank “Bill” Lumsden (1936-1984). In recognition of his community service, he was inducted into the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt (?) and Canadian Curling Hall of Fame (1976), and he received the Canadian Centennial Medal (1967), Manitoba Sports Federation Certificate of Merit (1971), and Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977).
He died on 5 April 1982 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery. He was inducted posthumously into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (1983) and Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame (1988).
Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Manitoba Curling Association, 1952 Yearbook, page 21.
“Mrs. Lumsden holds trousseau reception,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 April 1955, page 10.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 7 April 1982, page 51.
“Lumsden ignited CCA,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 April 1982, page 71.
Obituary [William Harry Frank Lumsden], Winnipeg Free Press, 5 December 1984, page 64.
Obituary [Eveline Lumsden], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 November 1995, page 57.
Website, Canadian Curling Hall of Fame.
Website, Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.
Website, Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame.
We thank Rick Mutton for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Jim Smith and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 14 November 2022
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