Businessman.
Born at Winnipeg on 2 July 1904, son of William George McMahon and Eva Maude Thom (1866-1917), he was educated at the Ashbury College School (Ottawa) and Royal Military College (Kingston), graduating from the latter in 1925. That year, he was a member of the first Winnipeg football team to play in the Grey Cup.
After a brief period of employment in the Winnipeg Grain Exchange, he joined his father’s wholesale hardware company. After his father’s death, he incorporated W. G. McMahon Limited and developed it into a wholesale distributor of binder twine and floor coverings. He sold the business in 1960. A founder of Fidelity Trust, he was Chairman of its Board (1965-1978). He held a seat on the Winnipeg Grain Exchange (1977-1983).
From 1925, he served as a reserve officer in the Fort Garry Horse militia and, during the Second World War, he held several staff positions before taking command of the 18th Armoured Car Regiment of the Manitoba Dragoon. After the war, he returned to his business and his farm at Headingley that he had started in the 1930s, and where he raised Southdown sheep. On this property, he designed and built the Breezy Bend golf course, which opened in 1960. He later designed three other golf courses: Bel Acres, Winnipeg Canoe Club, and Spy Hill (Saskatchewan). In 1969, he built the Tuxedo Inn and operated it briefly before retirement.
He was married twice, first on 21 June 1928 to Avis Winnifred Stacey (?-?) and second in 1942 to Ellen “Nell” Hudson (1911-2003). He was an honourary life member of the Canadian Aberdeen Angus Association. He built a 21-foot sailboat “The Irish Rover” and sailed it at Minaki and on Lake Winnipeg. He wrote “Professional Soldier” (1985) about his long-time friend Guy Simonds. In 1999, he received an honourary doctorate from the Royal Military College. Active in Winnipeg’s business community, he was a member of the Winnipeg Rotary Club (President, 1956), Manitoba Club, and Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce (President, 1959-1960). During the Pan-Am Games of 1967, he was Chairman of Facilities.
He died at the Grace Hospital on 12 November 2000 and was buried in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Powis House (9 Middle Gate, Winnipeg)
Manitoba Organization: Breezy Bend Country Club
Birth registration [John Stuart McMahon], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registrations [Eva Maude McMahon, William George McMahon], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [John Stuart McMahon, Avis Winifred Stacey], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“McMahon - Stacey,” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 June 1928, page 9.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 18 November 2000, page 67.
Obituary [Ellen McMahon], Winnipeg Free Press, 19 November 2003.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 4 August 2024
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