Notable People



RECREATIONAL - Sport & Culture


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
 


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
 


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.