List of 150 Alberta Historical People

) Honourable J.W. Grant MacEwan- Lieutenant Governor-1966-1974

Download 0.5 Mb.

Page	17/37
Date	23.11.2017
Size	0.5 Mb.
	#34320

1 ... 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 ... 37

60) Honourable J.W. Grant MacEwan- Lieutenant Governor-1966-1974

Dr. John Walter Grant MacEwan was born on August 12, 1902 and died on June 15, 2000. MacEwan graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science and Arts, and also attended Iowa State University where he completed his Master of Science degree. After graduating he worked at a number of universities and eventually became the dean of agriculture, at the University of Manitoba.

MacEwan was also an author and published more than 20 books. He was very passionate about agriculture and the environment, and wrote a lot on both of these topics. He enjoyed educating Canadians on how important it was to have a healthy relationship with the environment, and was best known across Western Canada for his work in public service.

After 23 years of working at a university level, he moved to Calgary, where he became involved in politics. He was elected mayor of Calgary and remained mayor for three years. On January 6, 1966 he was selected as the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta and only stepped down from this position on July 2, 1974.

MacEwan received a number of awards throughout his lifetime including, the Canadian Brotherhood Council Award, and the Premier’s Award for Excellence. J.W. Grant MacEwan was very loved by people, and did a lot of good for Alberta, and many other Provinces. MacEwan University is named in honour of him, the only Alberta University named after a real person. You can also see MacEwan’s name on many other facilities across Alberta.

By Shelbe Glidden

61) Honourable John James Bowlen- Lieutenant Governor-1950-1959

John J. Bowlen was born on July 21, 1876 at Cardigan, Prince Edward Island, to Michael Bowlen and Mary Casey. He spent his early years working in Massachusetts, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba. He later married Caroline Suive of Boston on July 11, 1900 and they purchased a farm near Muenster, Saskatchewan in 1906. At this time, John got into the business of buying and selling horses to help maintain his farm and bought a ranch near Rosebud, Alberta in 1910. He sold that property in 1917 and bought a bigger ranch, only to sell that one in 1920. He then bought the Brand 27 Ranch near Alderson, Alberta. The Brand 27 Ranch would become the largest horse ranch in Canada. John also began raising cattle on a ranch he purchased near Pincher Creek. He started raising sheep in 1929 as the demand for horses fell when the Great Depression began.

John ran as a candidate in the riding of North Battleford, Saskatchewan in the Federal Election of 1914, but lost. He was first elected to the Alberta legislature in the 1930 election as a Liberal for a riding in Calgary. He represented this riding until 1944. After he was defeated in the 1944 provincial election, he tried to retire and sold most of his property. In 1946, he bought a farm near Carseland, Alberta and also purchased grain farms in Cochrane, Alberta and Macklin, Saskatchewan.

John was named Lieutenant Governor of Alberta effective February 1, 1950 and was in this position until he died on December 16, 1959 at the age of 83. During his life, John was the Vice-President and honourary President for the Western Stock Growers’ Association, Governor of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Associate Director of the Calgary Stampede and a member of the Calgary Public Library Board. Both a provincial government building in Calgary and a junior high school in Edmonton are named after him.

By Tom Elder

62) Honourable Lois E. Hole- Lieutenant Governor- 2000-2005

Lois Hole was born in 1933, in Saskatchewan. When Lois was younger she bought a farm with her husband, which became known as Hole’s Greenhouses & Gardens Ltd in St. Albert. The farm has since grown into the largest retail greenhouse operations in western Canada.

Lois was extremely interested in gardening and farming; she wrote six gardening books (all bestsellers). She also appeared on TV shows and contributed to a number of newspapers. Lois was also involved in education, serving as a trustee for the St. Alberta School District from 1981-1998. She previously served 14 years on the Sturgeon School Division as chair and trustee. She also volunteered her time and was on a number of other boards including the Canadian Heritage Garden Foundation, the Child & Adolescent Services Association and the Quality of Life Commission.

In 1999 Lois was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 2004 Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital named a new wing of their hospital in her honor, the Lois Hole Women's Hospital. Additionally, Lois was also the president of the University of Alberta from 1998-2000.

As you can see, Lois was a very busy woman and she became even busier when she was appointed Lieutenant Governor on February 10, 2000. She was only the second woman in Alberta’s history to serve in this office, an amazing accomplishment. Albertans loved Lois so much that they requested to extend her term as lieutenant governor for another year. Unfortunately, in 2005 Lois passed away. Her memory continues to live on through a number of programs she put into place, awards she created and schools that have been named after her.

By Shelbe Glidden

63) Honourable Lois Mitchell- Lieutenant Governor- 2015-present

Lois Mitchell is an accomplished businesswoman and a proud, longstanding member of Alberta’s dedicated corps of community volunteers. She began her duties as the 18^th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta on June 12, 2015.
Lois was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. A passion for sport in general, and for team sports in particular, led her to studies in Physical Education at the University of British Columbia and a position teaching Grade 6 Phys Ed and English in Vancouver.
In 1960, Lois met Calgarian Doug Mitchell who was studying law at UBC and playing with the B.C. Lions Football Club. The couple were married in 1961. A year later, the Mitchells moved to Calgary where Doug began articling with a local firm. It was a natural move for Lois whose Alberta connections reach back to her grandfather, Tom Mackie, a Calgary Chief of Police in the early days of the province. The Mitchells settled in the city to build their careers and raise their four children.
In 1970, an opportunity emerged for Lois to use her natural skills as an entrepreneur. After observing a lack of team apparel available to fellow football fans, she began a business that grew over the decade to become a successful merchandising and sports marketing firm. Lois then created Amherst Consultants, a corporate training firm which allowed her to merge her teaching background with her business and communications strengths. She continued the business in Toronto for five years while Doug took on duties as the Commissioner of the Canadian Football League before returning to Alberta in 1990. In 2007, Lois became a founding partner of Rainmaker Global Business Development, a Calgary-firm dedicated to connecting companies with business opportunities around the world.

Lois Mitchell has maintained a firm commitment to community service and volunteerism throughout her life. Her belief in the value of amateur sport, to both individuals and the community as a whole, prompted volunteer service as a Director of the Hockey Canada Foundation, Ambassador and Governor of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, Co-Chair of the Gold-Medal Plates dinner in support of aspiring Olympians and a board member for the inaugural World Women’s Under-18 Hockey Championships. She has long been a proud patron of the Special Olympics Canada Foundation. The Mitchells have extended generous patronage over the years to a variety of programs and scholarships to support Canada’s athletes and to foster opportunities for women in amateur sport.

Lois Mitchell has shared her business acumen on the boards of UBS Bank (Canada) and Mitacs, an organization that promotes scientific and business innovation among emerging leaders. She is past Chair of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and Vice-Chair of the Global Business Forum. Her commitment to regional and national endeavours includes a12-year tenure as Honourary Consul of Colombia for Alberta and Saskatchewan, contributions as a Governor of the Canadian Unity Council and duties as Co-Chair of the 2014 True Patriot Love dinner to support Canada’s men and women in uniform. Her interest in education led to volunteer service on the board of Canada World Youth and as Chair of the Advisory Board of the Latin American Research Centre at the University of Calgary. Her great love of music and the arts can be seen in past volunteer duties as Chair of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, board member of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the National Youth Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra League Council and Co-Chair of Calgary 2012 as a Cultural Capital.

Download 0.5 Mb.

Share with your friends:

1 ... 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 ... 37