Metalworker, radio operator.
Born at Copenhagen, Denmark in 1902, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Art and Technical Institute then worked for four years in western Germany. His family immigrated to Canada and settled first at Alida, Saskatchewan before moving to Winnipeg. Around 1924, he began working for Vulcan Iron Works where, among other works, he made the brass doors for the Hudsons Bay Building. He later worked for the Winnipeg Brass Company.
In 1932, he co-founded Western Canada Bronze Company, in partnership with William “Bill” Smyth (1902-1965), in an old blacksmith shop in Elmwood and later moved to 595 Clifton Street. They specialized in the production of ornamental castings for name plates, memorial plaques, cenotaphs, and monuments. Among their work was a military roll of honour in the Winnipeg Law Courts Building and a Dominion Council Trophy made in 1947 for the Navy League of Canada. After selling the business to the Canadian Bronze Company in 1956, he moved to Pine Ridge and established Manitoba’s first licensed, privately-owned tree farm, the Pine Ridge Forest Nursery, that consisted of some 60,000 coniferous trees.
On 27 April 1935, he married schoolteacher Mabel Mary Barratt (1905-2001) at Winnipeg and they subsequently had two children: Allan Behrends (1945-2016) and Joyce Behrends (wife of ? Morrison). The family lived at 186 Oakdean Boulevard. He was an active short-wave (ham) radio operator, having started the hobby in Denmark, and he became one of the best known operators in Canada with the call letters VE4RO. After moving to Pine Ridge, he operated at 750 watts, the maximum legal limit, with two 70-foot towers atop a nearby hill. He was a member of the D.X. Radio Club. Around 1963, his property was expropriated for the development of Birds Hill Provincial Park. The trees that he planted, along with his brick home and garage, and former wooden hamshack, remain at the site.
He died at the St. Boniface Sanatorium on 10 July 1965 and was buried in the Sunnyside Cemetery.
Marriage registration [George Christian Behrends, Mabel Mary Barratt], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Radio links local teacher with his pair “down under”,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 June 1938, page 3.
“Brass firm expands,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 November 1956, page 20.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
“Man of many skills,” Steinbach Carillon, 28 June 1963, page 15.
Obituary [Bill Smyth], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 June 1965, page 25.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 12 July 1965, page 21.
Obituary [Mabel Mary Behrends], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 September 2001.
Obituary [Allan Behrends], Winnipeg Free Press, 22 October 2016.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Joyce Behrends Morrison for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Bruce Johnson and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 31 July 2025
Memorable Manitobans
This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.
Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text:
Custom SearchBrowse surnames beginning with:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | ZBrowse deaths occurring in:
1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.caCriteria for Memorable Manitobans | Suggest a Memorable Manitoban | Firsts | Acknowledgements
Help us keep
history alive!
