Businessman.
Born at Winnipeg on 19 January 1916, son of Jean Isabel Culver (1883-1965) and Conrad Stephenson Riley, he served in the Royal Canadian Artillery from 1940 to 1945, seeing action in Europe and being awarded an MBE. He trained with the Royal Bank of Canada and ran the insurance and general agency for several years. In 1948 he acquired Dominion Tanners Limited, which later became United Canadian Shares Limited. He served as Chair of the Canadian Indemnity Company, and was a board member of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Montreal Trust, and Monarch Life Assurance Company.
On 4 May 1940, he married Myrtle Frances Mary “Dime” Aikins (1917-?, daughter of Gordon Harold Aikins) and they had two sons. He chaired the National Budget Committee of the Canadian Red Cross and was a board member of the Manitoba Museum. In 1978 he co-chaired a task force which redesigned the provincial government’s administrative structure. He was a prominent amateur athlete before the Second World War, becoming a national rowing champion in the double sculls with his brother, Ab Riley. He obtained a private pilot’s license in 1960. He served as President of the Lakewood Club for many years. He served on the finance committee for the Manitoba Centennial Corporation and was a founding member of the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature.
He died at his Winnipeg home on 19 February 1999.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sutherland House (135 Middle Gate, Winnipeg)
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 22 February 1999, page 29.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 14 April 2024
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