List of 150 Alberta Historical People
) Joseph Tyrell, The Royal Tyrell Museum is Named after Him
Download 0.5 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- 84) Kathleen Parlow- International Violin Virtuoso
- 85) Katherine Hughes, an Alberta Trail Blazer
- 86) Kent Hehr- Well respected Alberta politician
- 87) Kerry Wood
83) Joseph Tyrell, The Royal Tyrell Museum is Named after HimJoseph Tyrrell was born on November 1, 1858 in Toronto, and died there on August 26, 1957. Tyrrell led an exciting life of exploration and discovery. He traveled across Canada, and spent a lot of time in the Northwest Territories. One of Tyrrell’s most exciting discoveries was that of dinosaur bones. He was actually looking for coal in the Red Deer River Valley when he accidently discovered the skull of an Albertosaurus in 1884. The Albertosaurus was a close cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and this skull was the first one ever found! He continued to explore the river banks, and soon realized that he stumbled upon a dinosaur graveyard. Joseph Tyrrell was only 24 when he made this discovery, and it became known as the Great Canadian Dinosaur Rush. The land where Tyrell found these skeletons may actually help paleontologists today, as they try to figure out why dinosaurs became extinct. The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Drumheller, Alberta, continues to pursue Tyrrell’s work that he began in 1884. Although Tyrrell discovered dinosaur bones, he was more interested in mining and exploration, the land where he discovered dinosaur remains also has become a large mining centre. Tyrrell explored a lot of areas throughout Canada that had previously been unknown territory, and he became famous for an assignment called the Barren Lands By Shelbe Glidden 84) Kathleen Parlow- International Violin VirtuosoKathleen Parlow was a violinist and a teacher who was born on September 20, 1890 in Fort Calgary, Alberta. Her father worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company. She started playing the violin when she was 6 years old. At 15 years old, she played at the Buckingham Palace in England for the royal family and she moved to Europe with her mother. In 1906, Kathleen Parlow became the “first foreigner accepted into the St. Petersburg Conservatory”. Between the ages of 18 and 25, Kathleen Parlow performed at least 375 times. During World War I, she performed in Holland and Scandinavia. She became known as the “Canadian Violinist”. She started teaching violin in 1929. She won the University of Alberta National Award in Music in 1956. There is a scholarship named after her at the University of Toronto for violin and cello players. She died in 1963 in Toronto. She was 72 years old. By Laura Peace
Katherine was appointed the first provincial archivist of Alberta in May 1908 and developed the Bureau of Archives. She also served as private secretary to Alberta's first two premiers, A.C. Rutherford and Arthur Sifton. To help newly arrived immigrants, Katherine established the Catholic Women's League of Edmonton in 1912. In September, 1913 she transferred to London, England to take up a position as the assistant and secretary in the office of the Agent General for Alberta. By Rob Lennard 86) Kent Hehr- Well respected Alberta politicianKent Hehr was born in Calgary on December 16 1969. As a youth, Kent loved to play sports, especially baseball and hockey. He was a member of the team that won the Calgary Canucks Junior Hockey League Championship and he also played for the Mount Royal Cougars. His goal in life was to become a physical education teacher. In 1991 Kent was a passenger in a friend’s car when he was hit in the neck by a drive-by shooter. His spinal cord was severely damaged which left him paralyzed, and confined to a wheelchair. However, he was determined to not let his disability slow him down. He studied at Mount Royal College and the University of Calgary where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Canadian Studies followed by a Law degree. The University named him Graduate of the Decade. Kent then went to work as a lawyer for an important national law firm. In 2008 the Calgary Herald listed him as one of “twenty most compelling Calgarians to watch”. That same year Kent entered politics and became a Member of the Alberta Legislature (MLA) for Calgary-Buffalo, a position he held until 2012. His efforts focused mainly on justice, finance and education. In October 2015 he became the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Calgary-Centre. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed him Minister of Veteran’s Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defense. He has recently succeeded in obtaining increased benefits for veterans and has re-opened a number of Veteran’s Affairs offices that had been closed by the previous government. He also chaired the northern wildfire Cabinet committee. Kent is a great supporter of people with disabilities and also of the local community. He has served on lots of committees dealing with such issues. The Honorable Kent Hehr is a shining example of courage, determination and achievement. By Judith Barge
Young Edgar quickly took to his new home. He was fascinated by the local diversity of nature. When he was only 12 years old, he joined the Alberta Natural History Society. After the local Gaetz Lakes were designated as a Dominion Bird Sanctuary in 1924, he was named an honorary Canadian wildlife officer to help with the conservation work. He also gained a new nickname. Since he had very bushy eyebrows like the family’s Airedale dog “Nobby”, he also became known as Nobby to friends and family. Nobby became very active in scouting. He became Red Deer’s first King Scout. He also served as a scoutmaster. Moreover, he took a scouting term, knobkerrie, to create the pen name “Kerry Wood” for the stories he was writing. In the 1920’s, Nobby decided to take up writing as a full time occupation. Making a living as an author is always a challenge. There were times when Nobby literally starved. He got work as a reporter for the Edmonton Bulletin. He also wrote for the Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald, Calgary Albertan and the Red Deer Advocate. Eventually, he was published in a number of magazines and publications across North America, Great Britain and Europe. On February 10, 1936, he married the love of his life, Marjorie Marshall. They had three children, daughters Rondo and Heather and son Greg. With a family to support, Nobby looked for ways to supplement his income. He was a talented craftsman and he made archery tackle for sale. In 1939, he got a job as a broadcaster with the C.B.C. His first book, Three Mile Bend, was published in 1945. More than two dozen books followed. Two of his publications, The Map Maker and The Great Chief, won the Governor General’s medals for juvenile literature. In 1963, Kerry Wood won the first Vicky Metcalf Award for “consistently good writing of material inspirational to Canadian youth”. In his life time, Kerry Wood wrote more than 6200 short stores, 8000 articles, 9000 newspaper columns, 4000 radio talks, 612 television scripts, and 28 books and publications, not including the chapters which he wrote for school readers. Among his many honours were the Order of Canada, the Order of the Bighorn, the Alberta Achievement Award, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Alberta and numerous life memberships. Kerry “Nobby” Wood passed away peacefully at home on July 25, 1998. His beloved Marjorie passed away on September 21, 2002. Kerry Wood Drive and the Kerry Wood Nature Centre in Red Deer are named in his honour. By Michael Dawe Download 0.5 Mb. Share with your friends:
|