Memorable Manitobans: Ben Berck (1912-1998)

Environmental researcher.

Born at Kildonan, Manitoba on 20 April 1912, he was raised on a farm at Ste. Anne, Manitoba. At the age of six he moved to Winnipeg where his mother Rose ran a boarding house and worked as a midwife, and his father worked for Winnipeg Transit. He received his education at Aberdeen School, St. John’s Technical High School, and the University of Manitoba. He spent 38 years working for the Research Branch of Canada Agriculture, working in cereal and pesticide research. He founded the Manitoba Environmental Research Committee (MERC), established to address his passionate concern for the future of the global environment. In 1970, in commemoration of his community service, he was given a Centennial Medal by the Manitoba Historical Society. He died at his Winnipeg home on 24 February 1998 and was buried in the Rosh Pina Memorial Park.

Source:

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 26 February 1998, page C10.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 23 October 2011

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