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’20s
’28 N. Dermott McInnes, BA, ’31 BDiv, of North Vancouver, BC, is one of the oldest-living alumni of the University of Alberta, having recently celebrated his 102nd birthday surrounded by family and friends. Dermott writes that after receiving his bachelor’s of divinity from St. Stephen’s College in 1931, he received a travelling scholarship to study at Union Theological Seminary in New York, from which he received a master’s of sacred theology in 1932. Dermott spent his working life in the ministry of the United Church of Canada in Alberta and British Columbia and completed his career as a chaplain at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. Dermott adds that he is grateful for his student days at the U of A— and for being on the mailing list of New Trail.
’30s
’31 William L. “Bill” Kent, BSc (CivEng), is another of that proud cohort of the U of A’s oldest-living alumni. Bill spent his career as a civil engineer in Canada, the U.S. and the Philippines. Today, he still travels back to his alma mater by bus from Langley, BC, to attend alumni events, including Reunion Weekend, where he catches up with old friends and makes some new ones.
’50s
’53 John Godel, BSc, ’55 MD, of Heriot Bay, BC, was recently named a Member of the Order of Canada for his contributions to pediatric health care in remote northern Canadian communities and for his international volunteer work.
’58 James Lavers, BEd, ’70 MEd, of Edmonton, writes that since retiring from his career in education in 1984, he has been designing interactive decision-making programs based on his master’s research in neuro-linguistic programming at the U of A. The programs combine Jungian typology with various learning modes, including analytic, visual and kinetic learners. Three of these programs have been trademarked in Alberta, and Jim is currently working on marketing them nationally. In addition to his programming work, Jim is also an amateur historian and has recently proposed two submissions to the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation on his Scottish-Metis ancestors.
’60s
’62 Donald Storch, BA, of Victoria, BC, recently received the Order of Canada for his contributions and volunteerism in the fields of social welfare, family services, law and health care, particularly through his involvement with the Victorian Order of Nurses. Donald’s wife, Jan, writes that Donald has been very active in volunteer work throughout his career— in Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria— and that he is now semi-retired as a counsellor in Victoria, where the couple have lived since 1996. Jan and Donald are the proud parents of three children and the proud grandparents of four grandchildren.
’65 Ralph Krueger, BA, of Calgary, ’68 Krishan Joshee, BEd, of writes that he has been retired from the Calgary Board of Education for the past 11 years and is now on his third trip to Brazil, where he and his team are completing the construction of a drug rehab centre in the city of Florinapolis. Ralph has taken similar building trips to Cameroon with charitable groups from Calgary. “So much to do, so little time left,” writes Ralph. ’67 Donald R. Bolstad, BEd, ’70 BA, of Wetaskiwin, AB, writes that after graduating he taught junior and senior high school in Alberta, before going on to earn a master’s of divinity at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon. “I served as a pastor in parishes in Alberta, the Yukon and British Columbia,” writes Donald, who retired in 2008. “I earned several certificates in addiction counselling and have spent a lot of time working on behalf of special needs children and for the poor, homeless and addicted.” Karl Ewoniak, BA, of Edmonton, has been appointed to the board of directors of Fidelity Capital Structure Corp., part of Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest providers of financial services. In addition to the Fidelity board, Karl serves on the boards of Canadian Direct Insurance Inc., the Alberta Securities Commission and the Alberta Capital Markets Foundation. John McDougall, BSc(Eng), of Edmonton, was appointed president of the National Research Council of Canada, effective April 19, 2010, for a mandate of five years. Lois Wilkinson, BCom, of Delta, BC, the director of Envision Financial, was recently appointed chair of the Delta Hospital Foundation.
Dick Harington, ’54 BA, ’57 BSc, ’77 PhD, ’04 DSc (Honorary), of Gloucester, ON, writes that he and his wife, Gail, have just published a cookbook, All Mixed Up!, that includes nearly 140 family recipes— many of them with Alberta connections— such as a recipe for the famous U of A Tuck Shop Cinnamon Buns and the renowned Calgary invention, Ginger Beef. Dick has published three other books in his professional career as a paleo-biologist and curator— now emeritus— of the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, including Canada’s Missing Dimension: Science History in the Canadian Arctic Islands and The Year without a Summer: World Climate in 1816. He writes, “My main research interest is studying ice age vertebrates of Canada, and, in 2008, I completed 10 summers of excavating the four-million-year-old Beaver Pond site on Ellesmere Island, which has produced bones of small beavers and ancient relatives of black bears, wolverines, etc.”
Edmonton, recently received the Stars of Alberta Lifetime Volunteer Award. A retired science teacher, Krishan has chaired and served on numerous boards and has volunteered on many committees. Allan E. Scott, BSc(Eng), received the John Poole Award for Promotion of the Arts at the 23rd annual Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts held on March 22 by the City of Edmonton and the Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton. Allan is the chair of the board of directors of the Art Gallery of Alberta and recently oversaw the opening of its new $22-million building in Edmonton’s Churchill Square. Michael Grandin, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, was recently appointed director of HSBC Bank Canada. He is the former chair and CEO of Fording Incorporated and Fording Canadian Coal Trust.
’69 Edwin Ashton, MSc, ’73 PhD, ’00 BSc(Nu), of Grande Prairie, AB, writes in to say that he retired from the psychiatry department of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in September and is now working as a volunteer chaplain and registered nurse at the Grande Prairie Care Centre. Barry Leon, BA, writes that he has joined the Ottawa-based law firm Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP as a partner in the international arbitration group, which was established at the beginning of 2009 to represent Canadian and international businesses and governments in arbitrations around the world. Barry adds that after graduating from the U of A he obtained his MBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, and his law degree at the University of Toronto. He had practised with Torys LLP in Toronto since his admission to the Ontario Bar in 1976 and has more than 30 years of experience as counsel in complex and significant disputes involving many different industries. E-mail bleon@perlaw.ca.
Spring/Summer 2010