Memorable Manitobans: Raymond E. Dennis (1883-1953)

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Raymond E. Dennis
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Railwayman.

Born at St. Leonards-on-Sea, England on 17 September 1883, son of John Ellis Dennis and Mary Ann Godsell, he came to Canada in September 1904 and eventually reached Swan River. After working in forestry for a brief time, he found employment with the Canadian National Railway, responsible for maintaining 300 miles of track for the Hudson Bay Railway from Swan River to Sherridon. In 1921, he became Roadmaster at the Saskatoon Junction.

He was transferred to Winnipeg in 1931 to become Roadmaster of the Winnipeg Terminal Division where he was considered a “Good Samaritan” who provided employment to some 2,500 men during the Great Depression. He retired in 1948.

On 11 January 1908, he married Caroline Edna Murphy (1877-1971) at Swan River and they had five children: Joyce Elizabeth Christine Dennis (1909-2000, wife of Arthur Franklin Kerr), Ian Raymond John Dennis (1912-1985, husband of Bernice Hall), Ethel Mariam Dennis (1915-2008), Elsie Marjorie Dennis (1916-2013, wife of Blake Johns), and Rodney Esmond Dennis (1916-1997, husband of Dorothy Armit).

He died at his Winnipeg home, 166 Evanson Street, on 14 May 1953 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.

Sources:

Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

1921 Canada census, Ancestry.

“Retiring roadmaster, Raymond Dennis, honored,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 September 1948.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 15 May 1953, page 30.

Obituary [Ian Raymond Dennis], Winnipeg Free Press, 26 December 1985, page 50.

Obituary [Rodney E. Dennis], Winnipeg Free Press, 30 December 1997, page 36.

Obituary [Joyce Elizabeth Christine Kerr], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 April 2000.

Obituary [Ethel Miriam Dennis], Winnipeg Free Press, 7 February 2008.

Obituary [Elsie Marjorie Johns], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 September 2013.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Pat McVeigh.

Page revised: 30 December 2021

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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