Stevenson, Alexander P.

A.P. Stevenson, pioneer fruit grower of Manitoba, was born at Bannockburn and spent most of his early years on the braes of Killiecrankie in Perthshire, Scotland. He came to Canada about the age of 20 years old and worked outside of Toronto, farming and ditching, prior to proceeding westward to Winnipeg in 1874. Stevenson was among the first farmers in the West to make a success of fruit growing. His farm, eventually known as Pine Grove Nursery, was situated near Morden, Manitoba. Here he experimented in a number of fruits, including cherries, strawberries and plums. However, it was in apples that he specialized. He experimented mostly with those of Russian origin and from these many experiments, established an apple industry...

Stefansson, Baldur Rosmund

During a long and productive career at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Baldur Stefansson made a major contribution to Canada, Canadians, and people around the world through his outstanding work in developing canola. Baldur, often referred to as the “father of canola”, was born at Vestfold, Manitoba, to Gudmundur and Jonina Stefansson, a pioneer Icelandic family. He was a modest individual with a keen sense of purpose. His dedication to the development of a new edible oilseed demonstrated his great ability to focus on solutions; his prodigious reading and astounding memory were a great asset leading to the success of his research. Early in his search for an oilseed crop for Manitoba, Baldur identified the potential of rapeseed. However, rapeseed...

Stefanson, Eric

Eric Stefanson was born in Winnipeg and received his public schooling in Vestfold, Manitoba. He attended high school at the Daniel McIntyre Collegiate in Winnipeg. From 1935 to 1948, Stefanson operated a dairy farm at Oak Point and then moved to Gimli where he owned a general store. Later he operated an insurance business. He served as a municipal councillor for the town of Gimli for eight years and four years as deputy mayor. He served as a director of the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce for two years and as president of the Icelandic Celebration Committee for four years. He was extremely active in community affairs, having been Past Master of Lisgar Masonic Lodge, a charter member of the Viking...

Smith, Douglas Allan

Douglas Allan Smith, the son of Wilfred and Lillian (Tolton) Smith, was born March 22, 1922 on the family farm north of Oak Lake. The Smith family had settled in the St. David’s District north of Oak Lake, Manitoba in 1882. During his teens, Doug won the Grand Aggregate Judging of all classes of livestock at the provincial level at the Brandon Fair. Doug joined the R.C.A.F. in 1943, graduating as a Pilot Officer in 1945. At the close of the war, Doug married Shirley Thompson. They commenced their farming career at this time. They have four children, Gerald, Janice, Jo-Anne and Sally. Doug was a breeder and producer of purebred Yorkshire swine for twenty years. His “Veterans Pride” stock...

Smith, Keith

Keith Smith was born and raised on a farm in the Oak Lake area of Manitoba. Following high school Keith attended the University of Manitoba from which he graduated with a B.S.A. in 1955. Three years later he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with an MSc. in Extension Education. In 1958, Keith married Joy Harris. Together they raised four children: Richard, Janet, Brian and Murray. Keith began his 33 year career with the Manitoba Department of Agriculture in 1955—beginning as the Agricultural Representative at Holland, then moving to Winnipeg and later to Brandon as a Communications Specialist. He finished his distinguished career as the Principal of the Agricultural Extension Center in Brandon. Encouraging farmers to adopt modern production technology,...

Skinner, Frank Leith

Dr. Frank Leith Skinner (M.B.E., L.L.D.) came from Scotland as a boy and settled with his parents on a homestead near Dropmore, Manitoba. In 1900, Frank filed on a homestead of his own and while raising grain and cattle, he soon responded to his favourite hobby, horticulture, and in 1910 he established what became widely known as Skinners Nursery, Dropmore, Manitoba. Even though he went no further than Grade 8 in school, he became a renowned, self-educated botanist and horticulturist. At his own expense, he traveled almost worldwide in search of hardy trees, shrubs and flowers. These, when crossed with native Prairie species gave Western Canada in particular 12 new species of trees, 88 species of shrubs and over 130 species...

Sirett, William Flowers

William “Doc” Flowers Sirett was born in the Muskoka District of Ontario in 1879, moving with his parents to the Mentmore district in 1881. He attended school in the local one-room establishment, going on to receive his diploma in agriculture from the University of Wisconsin. In 1904, he attended the Veterinary College in Ontario, receiving his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. His post-graduate studies were taken at McKillop College in Chicago, Illinois. His veterinary practice of 50 years began in 1911 in Minnedosa. Because there was a scarcity of Veterinarians at the time, he received calls from locations miles from Minnedosa. As a result, the practice extended from east of Neepawa to the Brookdale-Mentmore district, south to Rapid City, west to...

Sinclair, Gordon Maxwell

Gordon Maxwell Sinclair was born April 6, 1931, at Strathclair, Manitoba, to Samuel and Christene Sinclair. Gordon attended Strathclair Consolidated School and the University of Manitoba. He graduated with a BSA in 1952, winning the Lieutenant Governor’s Gold Medal. In 1958 Gordon married Donalda (Donnie) Manson of Arden. They had two sons Sam and John. Gordon began farming at Strathclair in 1953. The family’s farming operation grew to 2,880 acres, producing elite seed and special crops. A seed cleaning plant and a feed lot complemented the operation. In 1985, Gordon received a 25 year merit award for his production and promotion of top quality seed. In 1995 he celebrated 40 years as an elite seed grower. Gordon began his co-operative...