Community activist.
Born at Vancouver, British Columbia on 11 November 1918 to Bertha Windiate Crux (1875-1967) and William Edwin Pinchin (1876-1952), he had many part-time jobs during his youth in the Great Depression years, learning the bakery business from his father and delivering everything from papers to meat to ice. After graduating from Lord Byng High School, he worked in the coastal town of Ocean Falls, BC to save enough money to attend university, the only one of his nine siblings to pursue a post-secondary education. Graduating from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of British Columbia (UBC), he was seconded to the War Time Bureau of Supply, where his training as a meat cutter was more essential to the war effort than his university Reserve Officer training.
After he met Gwendolin Mary Hammond (1918-2010) while singing in the chorus of a Gilbert and Sullivan production for the UBC Musical Society, the two married on 4 February 1944 and went on to have two children. His last 35 years of employment were in Industrial Relations with Canada Safeway, who transferred him to Winnipeg in 1960. He retired in 1984 as Vice-President, but continued to serve on employee trust boards for more than 15 years.
He was a life-long entertainer, from the days when he would stand on a chair to recite poetry to his mother's Temperance Union meetings, to singing with dance bands in the 1940s, to directing a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe though the 1950s, to numerous performances with Winnipeg’s Rainbow Stage and the Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC, later renamed the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre). He also entertained at many hospitals and senior facilities, particularly Lions Manor and Lions Place. Two weeks before he died, he was still leading the Lions Club of Winnipeg in the anthems at their weekly meeting. For over 50 years he volunteered with a number of organizations, including Rainbow Stage, serving on its board and becoming an inaugural Wall of Fame recipient; the Lions Club of Winnipeg; and as Director of the Red River Exhibition. His philanthropy covered a broad spectrum of Winnipeg charities, along with establishing a fund at The Winnipeg Foundation. In 1977, he was a recipient of the City of Winnipeg Community Service Award.
For 52 years, he was a member of Southwood Golf and Country Club, a Blue Bomber season ticket holder, and MTC season ticket holder. As well, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Manitoba Opera since 1971, the Winnipeg Symphony Pops concerts, and Prairie Theatre Exchange.
He died at Winnipeg on 29 June 2012.
Obituary [Gwendolin Mary Pinchin], Winnipeg Free Press, 5 June 2010.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 7 July 2012.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 16 August 2026
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