Singer, community activist.
Born at Winnipeg on 7 September 1920 to Annie Gertrude Williams (1889-1988) and John Mackling (1881-1947), he was educated at Britannia School, Assiniboine School, and Linwood School in the St. James neighbourhood. He was greatly influenced by his Welsh mother, who had named him after a well-known countryman, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and who would often gather her children together in the kitchen to try to harmonize with her as she taught them the old songs of her culture.
In his early teens, he met Dave Lord, who became a close friend and who introduced him to Western music. Before long, he was singing and yodelling Western-style and became well known on the local amateur-night circuit, also performing with a group called the Western Kiddies. In the1950s, he and his three brothers joined the Winnipeg Chapter of the SPEBSQSA (Barbershop Harmony Society) in the hope that they could sing as a quartet. Despite a good attempt, the plan did not work out, but he continued to sing in the Winnipeg Chapter chorus. He then performed with the Winnicords, and later the Pine Tones, as well as serving on the executive of the Chapter, including a year as President. The Pine Tones also appeared in Rainbow Stage’s and Hollow Mug’s presentations of The Music Man.
During the Vietnam War, he became active in the peace movement and served as Chairman of the Manitoba Peace Council. He was chosen as a delegate to the World Peace Council Conferences in Moscow, USSR; Warsaw, Poland; and Sofia, Bulgaria. It was while visiting those socialist countries that he became convinced that some type of socialism could be the answer to people's problems. An attempt to foster better relations with the socialist countries led to him becoming active in the Canada-USSR Association, where he served as President of the Winnipeg Branch for many years.
After a short visit to Cuba in March 1972, he became a steadfast supporter of the Cuban people, and on his yearly visits, always took along some much-needed items to support his socialist brothers and sisters. As an active member of the Manitoba Cuba Solidarity Committee, he participated in many of the “Pastors for Peace” caravans, which each year convoyed much-needed items to Cuba and made efforts to persuade the United States to lift its blockade of the island.
He also volunteered with Folklorama’s Lviv pavilion and was active with the Ukrainian Labour Temple. As a staunch supporter of trade unions, he served on the executive of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local #694, while employed with CBWT, Winnipeg’s broadcast division of CBC, as a scenic constructor, then scenic construction crew leader. There, he was instrumental in designing television production sets that were more mobile than they previously had been. He retired in 1985 after 30 years of service.
With his wife, Ruth Henderson Day (1921-2003), he had two children. After they divorced, he married Jeanne Romanoski.
He died at Winnipeg on 10 November 2012 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.
Birth registration [David Lloyd Mackling], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“TV Carpenters,” CBC Times (Winnipeg), Volume XI No. 47, 14 November 1958.
Obituary [Ruth Henderson Marples], Winnipeg Free Press, 7 August 2003.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 14 November 2012.
“David Lloyd Mackling,” Cousins 022021 Family Tree, Ancestry.
David Lloyd Mackling, FindAGrave.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 8 June 2026
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