David, James Alexander Victor
Biography: B. Ontario (1887-1976) married (1912) Pearl
Snider
Claims: Farmer. Mayor
In 1921 he started working on the golf course and in 1929 the new
curling rink. He worked for a hospital for Killarney and was an area
and board member.. He served mayor of Killarney for ten years (1950 –
59) , during which time new skating rink, waterworks, a senior
citizen's home, the Lakeland Library and the museum (which now bears
his name) came into being. He served on the Oak Ridge School Board, the
Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce and the Fair Board. Victor was a
Past Master of Killarney Masonic
No. 50, Past Patron of Killarney
Chapter of
Star, a founder and life member of Killarney Golf
and of the
Manitoba Library Trustees Association. He received the Golden Boy award
in 1966. In Centennial year, 1967, the name was changed from Lakeland
Museum to the JA Victor David Museum in honour of its founder.
Probable Significance:
Source: Trails to Killarney p / Reflections
p. 270
![](images/VictorV.jpg)
Opening of Lakeview Home, 1957. V. David, J. Bate
From
the Local History Sources...
Born
at Gananoque, Ontario on 14 February 1887, he came to Killarney
when he was six weeks of age, and lived there all his life. On
retirement from farming, he became Mayor of Killarney, serving from
1950 to 1959. He was active in the establishment of the first hospital
at Killarney, the skating rink, waterworks, senior citizens home, and
golf club. In his later years, his primary interest was the local
museum that now bears his name, the J. A. V. David Museum situated in
the town’s first post office. He was a member of the Killarney Board of
Trade (Chamber of Commerce), Killarney Agricultural Society, and
Killarney Masonic Lodge. In recognition of his community service, he
was given a Manitoba Golden Boy Award (1966) and a Centennial Medal
(1970). He died at Killarney on 14 September 1976 and was buried in the
local cemetery.
Victor David (1887-1976) married Pearl Snider of Kingston on Dec. 24,
1912. They farmed the home farm, enlarging and improving it, until 1945
when they sold it and moved to Killarney. Victor was an avid reader,
interested in sports and in community development. In 1921 he started
working on the golf course and in 1929 the new curling rink. He worked
for a hospital for Killarney and was an area and board member. While
chairman of the Parks Board, he and J.G. Brown made many trips to the
sandhills for evergreens which they planted around the park and the
hospital. He served mayor of Killarney for ten years, during which time
new skating rink, waterworks, a senior citizen's home, the Lakeland
Library and the museum (which now bears his name) came into being. He
also developed an north of the tracks on which he built houses. One of
lots was bought by the Kiwanis Club for a "Tot Lot" which Victor bought
the first swings, etc. He served on the Oak Ridge School Board, the
Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce and the Fair Board. He baseball and
hockey clubs and hated to miss a ball Victor was a Past Master of
Killarney Masonic
No. 50, Past Patron of Killarney Chapter of
Star, a
founder and life member of Killarney Golf
and of the Manitoba Library
Trustees Association. received the Golden Boy award in 1966 and the
...< Medal in 1967.
Alex and Harriet had 3 sons:
- Arnold Cuthbert David who became a lawyer (Barrister-at-Law on his
military papers), served overseas and was badly wounded by came back to
practice law in Winnipeg
- Charles Frederick (Fred) David, the youngest, was killed in France
while flying a Handley Page Bomber
- John Alexander Victor (Vic) David was the middle child. From Trails
and Crossroads to Killarney: “ … put in his first crop in 1900. He
married Pearl Snider of Kingston in 1912. By 1945 the Davids had broken
2200 acres of prairie sod and he was farming four sections; during
World War ll he had 1000 acres in wheat. He raised prize saddle horses,
Holstein cattle and Percheron horses. In 1921 he decided Killarney
should have a golf course, so he organized a group of ten to establish
Killarney Lakeside Golf Club. In 1929 he headed a group which built a
three-seet curling rink.”
He saw to it that, under the Hospital Act, Killarney secured their own
hospital. “Once the by-law was passed, he personally supervised the
building, seeing every beam, pipe and piece of equipment installed …
The Board was thrifty; the lumber and much of the equipment was bought
from War Assets, and there was enough lumber left ovr to building
a skating rink and still have some for sale.”
From the time the David family set foot in Killarney, community, and
the development of community was important to them. While Vic
David was Mayor from 1950 to 1960, my Mom, G. Eileen Bate, became the
Town’s first female councillor when she returned there with my Dad,
Bruce Garrett, in 1972.
Kellett (Stilwell), Ruby
Biography: Ruby Stilwell ( - 1980) Married (ca, 1916) to John
Grieve (George) Kellett ( - 1959)
Claims: Worked for P.C. Edwards, the photographer. Ruby and
George appeared in plays put on by the Community Players, George on the
vestry and Ruby in all the church groups, particularly her beloved
auxiliary. She sang most of her life in the choir and had secondary
roles in all the great operettas this group performed. Active in the
church.
Probable Significance:
Source: Trails to Killarney p / Reflections
p. 371
![](images/greivestillwell.jpg)
Ruby Stilwell, posing/or P. C. Edwards about 1914.
From
the Local History Sources...
George
and Ruby were very active in the community, both appearing every
winter in plays put on by the Community Players, a dramatic group run
by Maggie and Perce Rollins. Ruby always had the juvenile lead. They
were very active in the church: George on the vestry and Ruby in all
the church groups, particularly her beloved auxiliary. She sang most of
her life in the choir and had secondary roles in all the great
operettas this group performed. George's most memorable dramatic
appearance was in 'Journey's End', a story of WW I put on in 1930 with
an all-male cast. The stage was a dugout, records in the wings played
the sounds of battle and the smell of cooking bacon wafted out to the
audience when 'Pop' Kellett, as batman, served a rasher of bacon to the
officers. This play was taken to several other towns and was really a
masterpiece.
Pritchard,
William
Biography:
Claims: Built first curling rink. Arrived in 1886. Supplied the railway
contractors with meat and vegetables. Built Pritchard’s Hall, the first
floor was a butcher shop. Was the fitst to buy and ship cattle and
produce by the carload.
Probable Significance:
Source: Trails to Killarney p / Reflections p.
From
the Local History Sources...
The
first curling rink in Killarney was a single sheet with a pole and
straw roof built by William Pritchard and used for two years. Then
Joseph Pritchard, William's brother, built a two-sheet rink with
skating ice adjoining, later sold to Henry Bowyer and bought from him
by Tom Bowyer in the early 1900's. This had two sheets of curling ice
on the west side of a wooden structure and a sheet of skating ice, on
the corner of Findlay and Mountain.
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