David Leopold Mellish (1883-1954)

Municipal official, agricultural implements dealer.

Born at Montague, Prince Edward Island on 22 July 1883, son of John Mellish and Margaret Johnstone, he was educated there and at Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown. He taught school for a year, then came to Manitoba in 1902 where he became an agent for the Massey-Harris Company, an agricultural implements busines, in the Pipestone area. He remained in this business until becoming chairman of the Municipal and Public Utility Board of Manitoba in 1948, a position that he held to the time of his death.

He married Louise Crawford, with whom he had one daughter.

He was elected councillor of the Rural Municipality of Pipestone in 1920, became Reeve by acclamation in 1923 and held this office until 1932. Mellish served as chairman of the Pipestone school board for many years, a member of the United Church, and a past master of the Reston Masonic Lodge. He became active in the Union of Manitoba Municipalities, serving as its Vice-President and President. He was President of the Brandon Good Roads Association, part-time member of the Municipal and Public Utility Board, and an active member of the Riding Mountain Association that advocated for the creation of Riding Mountain National Park. The Sanitorium Board of Maitoba was one of his great interests. He was a member from 1928 until his death and had been chairman since 1949.

He died at Winnipeg on 25 April 1954, after an illness of several weeks.

Sources:

Western Municipal News, May 1954, page 133.

Profile revised: 8 November 2009

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