MHS Centennial Organization: The Winnipeg Foundation

Link to:
Board Members | Executive Directors | Solicitors | Sources

The Winnipeg Foundation was established in June 1921, the first community foundation in Canada, with an initial donation of $100,000 from William Forbes Alloway. He saw the creation of the Foundation as a way to give back to his community. On his death in 1930, his entire estate was left to the Foundation along with that of his wife, Elizabeth Maclaren Alloway, providing a total endowment of some $2 million. It has since grown to be one of the largest community foundations in North America.

On 20 April 2021, an MHS Centennial Organization Award was presented to the Foundation by Gordon Goldsborough and Dan Furlan.

Winnipeg Foundation

First Advisory Board and Staff of the Winnipeg Foundation, 1921.
Left to right: R. B. McElheran, E. Parnell, C. P. Wilson (Solicitor), T. G. Mathers, R. M. Dennistoun, H. J. Macdonald, and P. Lowe (Secretary).
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Dennistoun Diaries.

Advisory Board Members

Member

Period

Comment

Richard Archer

2005-2008

 

David Barnard

2022-?

 

George Bass

2017-?

 

Hazel Borys

2019-?

 

Brian Bowman

2015-?

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Richard R. Bracken

2007-2016

Board Chair (2010-2012)

Doneta A. Porteous Brotchie

2009-2021

Board Chair (?-2021)

Tom Bryk

2012-?

Board Chair (2022-?)

Archibald McTavish Campbell (1852-1942)

1927-1942

 

Tina Chen

2021-?

 

Phil Chiappetta

2021-?

 

Robert M. Chipman

1982-1986

President, Megill-Stephenson Company Limited

David Cohen

2007-2018

 

Catherine L. Cook MD

2005-2016

 

Roderick Alexander Copland (1909-1959)

1951-1959

President, Oldfield, Kirby and Gardner

Garnet Coulter (1882-1975)

1943-1954

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Robert Maxwell Dennistoun (1864-1952)

1921-1928

Founding Director

Robert George Brian Dickson (1916-1998)

1967-1973

 

Carolyn Duhamel

2009-2020

 

Spencer Duncanson

2009-2020

 

Paul Guyot DuVal (1893-1970)

1955-1966

 

Albert El Tassi

2012-?

 

Seymour James Farmer (1878-1951)

1923-1924

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Colin Campbell Ferguson (1878-1938)

1929-1938

 

Frank Oliver Fowler (1861-1945)

1922-1923

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Daniel Freidman

2017-?

 

William Hicks Gardner (1875-1951)

1942-1951

 

Robert Grant Graham (1931-2000)

1977-1984

President, Inter-City Gas Limited

Tracy Graham

2012-?

 

Deborah Gray

2012-2016

 

Gordon Clarke Hall (1921-1990)

1973-1990

 

Marsha Pearlman Hanen (1936-2019)

1993-1998

President, University of Winnipeg

Gregg Hanson

1999-2012

Board Chair (2006-2009)

Helen Frances Hayles (1929-2021)

1980-2001

Executive Director, Volunteer Centre of Winnipeg; Board Chair (1997-2000)

James Arthur Hillman (1919-2007)

1976-1993

Vice-President and Controller, Great-West Life Assurance Company

Alan Grant Howison (1932-2005)

1975-1976

Resident Manager, Richardson Securities of Canada

Dr. June James

1997-2008

 

Stephen “Steve” Juba (1914-1993)

1957-1977

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Samuel Michael “Sam” Katz

2004-2014

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

David S. Kaufman (1927-2010)

1977-1992

President, Silpit Industries Limited

Charles Kroft (1906-1984)

1969-1977

Chairman of the Board, National Grain Company Limited

Guy Joseph Kroft (1934-2020)

1992-2006

 

Gerry Labossiere

2012-2020

 

Gordon Lawson (1904-1995)

1962-1974

Vice-President (Finance), James Richardson & Sons Limited

Augustus Searle Leach (1909-1993)

1959-1974

Chairman of the Board, Federal Grain Limited

Joy Loewen

2019-?

 

Daniel “Dan” Lussier

2021-?

 

William Elliott Macara (1859-1929)

1922-1929

 

Daniel Alexander Macdonald (1858-1937)

1927-1937

 

Hugh John Macdonald (1850-1929)

1921-1922

Founding Director

Romulo Fernandez Magsino (1941-2022)

2005-2008

 

Patricia Mainville

2017-?

 

Thomas Graham Mathers (1859-1927)

1921-1927

Founding Director

Deborah J. McCawley

2007-2018

Board Chair (2016-2018)

Robert Benjamin McElheran (1877-1939)

1921-1926

Founding Director

Daniel McLean (1868-1950)

1928-1930

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Ewan Alexander McPherson (1879-1954)

1937-1954

 

Susan Millican

2006-2017

Board Chair (2013-2015)

Glen Murray

1998-2004

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

William “Bill” Norrie (1929-2012)

1979-2006

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Hugh Farquharson Osler (1881-1943)

1929-1943

 

Edward Parnell (1859-1922)

1921-1922

Founding Director

William Bruce “Bill” Parrish

1984-1996

Executive Vice-President, Parrish & Heimbecker Limited; Board Chair (1993-1996)

John Pollard

2019-?

 

Lawrence Oliver “Lawrie” Pollard (1928-2019)

1992-2006

 

Maureen Prendiville

2012-?

 

Robert G. Puchniak

2012-2018

 

Robert P. Purves (1927-1997)

1974-1991

President, Inter-Ocean Grain Company Limited

John Queen (1882-1946)

1935-1936,
1938-1942

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Gerald F. Reimer

1986-2006

 

Kathleen Margaret Richardson (1928-2019)

1970-1982

 

Muriel Sprague Richardson (1890-1973)

1944-1962

 

Diane Roussin

2018-?

 

Lesley Sacouman

2001-2016

 

Richard J. Scott

1990-2005

Board Chair (2001-2005)

George Edward Sharpe (1908-1985)

1955-1956

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Anita Southall

2017-?

 

Anna Meldred Speers (1908-1996)

1962-1970

President, R. James Speers Corporation Limited

Robert Ashley Steen (1933-1979)

1977-1979

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Eric Stefanson

2006-2011

 

Alan Edmund Tarr (1913-1995)

1950-1977

Vice-President and Treasurer, Monarch Life Assurance Company

Edgar Jordan Tarr (1881-1950)

1938-1942

 

Susan Ann Thompson

1989-1998

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Frederick Edgar Warriner (1884-1966)

1937

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Ralph Humphreys Webb (1886-1945)

1925-1927,
1930-1934

Ex officio (Mayor of Winnipeg)

Sonya C. Wright

1982-1989

 

Executive Directors / Chief Executive Officers

Period

Executive Director / Chief Executive Officer

1921-1957

Peter Lowe (1887-1980) [Secretary]

1957-1976

Hugh Avery Benham (1911-1997)

1976-1989

Alan Grant Howison (1932-2005)

1989-1999

Daniel H. Kraayeveld

1999-2021

Richard “Rick” Frost

2021-?

Sky Bridges

Solicitors

Period

Solicitor

?-?

Charles Patrick Wilson (1859-1931)

?-?

William Cleland Hamilton (1881-1943)

See also:

All Western Dollars by Peter Lowe
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Season 1945-46

A Remedy for Wooden Legs and Dead Hands: The Early Years of the Winnipeg Foundation by Gordon Goldsborough
Manitoba History, Number 66, Spring 2011

All Within My Power: The Life of William Forbes Alloway by Tim Higgins
Manitoba History, Number 67, Winter 2012

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Alloway and Champion Arch (Waterfront Drive, Winnipeg)

Sources:

Photograph of the first Advisory Board of the Winnipeg Foundation, Diaries of R. M. Dennistoun, Archives of Manitoba.

“Alloway wills all to local charities,” Manitoba Free Press, 27 February 1930, page 10.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 June 2023