Text.
Born on 30 April 1956 to Ora Elmaye Gigsta (1924-1016) and Walter Maxwell Hlady (1924-1986), he worked for a time in northern Canada at Churchill and Resolute Bay, Northwest Territory, as a flight service specialist/coast guard radio operator. He was one of the last to be trained in both disciplines simultaneously, and among the first candidates to trained at the Transport Canada Training Center situated on the St. Lawrence River at Cornwall, Ontario. He later worked with the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires.
At the age of 21, he volunteered to participate in the 1977 Queen’s Jubilee Commonwealth Expedition (Comex), under the patronage of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was part of a series of 14 overland expeditions conceived in England in 1964, and continuing until 1985, as a means of encouraging young people to understand Commonwealth ideals through travelling from the United Kingdom or Europe on the Asian Highway to India. The founder and leader of the program, Lionel Gregory OBE, wrote four books about these expeditions: Crying Drums (1972), With a Song and not a Sword (1973), Together, Unafraid (1979), and Journey of a Lifetime (1997). Many of the participants were chosen for their skills as drivers, navigators, and radio operators. Over the years, travel evolved from specially adapted buses to include trains and rugged four-wheeled vehicles as well. The long trip to Delhi, which was especially challenging in the earlier years, would last several weeks, with the participants putting on concerts and cultural performances along the way. Eventually, Africa was added as a destination, with Zambia as a base. Three hundred travellers took part in Comex 8, of which he was member. An experience on that expedition resulted in him sponsoring a five-year-old boy’s education.
Not only a regular at the gym, weight room, and swimming pool, he walked outdoors most days for additional exercise, and once won a 40-day contest for consistent walking/running. He was a staunch supporter of the Shriners Circus Mom and Dad program, the Annual MS Walk, and Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church on Minto Street. He was also a recipient of the Canadian Red Cross Rescuer Award, and served as President of the Cameron Highlander Association.
He died at Winnipeg on 26 September 2010 and was buried in Glen Eden Memorial Gardens.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 2 October 2010.
“Douglas Maxwell Hlady,” JL Unger Family Tree, Ancestry.
“Commonwealth Expedition,” Wikipedia.
“Commonwealth cultures in a decolonizing world,” Cambridge University Library.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 7 October 2025
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