Memorable Manitobans: Helen Lillian Granger Young (1922-2023)

Artist, sculptor.

Born at Mimico, Ontario on 1 November 1922, daughter of Martha Lillian Shelley and Lewis Elmer Northgrave Granger, as a child she won a scholarship to the Ontario College of Art where she studied under Charles Fraser Comfort, Franklin Carmichael, and Fred S. Haines. She worked as a sculptor (in porcelain and later bronze) and artist, doing commercial work for Eaton's and Hudson's Bay stores, and was an art instructor. During the Second World War, she produced technical drawings of military equipment.

On 26 July 1949, she married William Allan “Bill” Young (1925-2003) at Winnipeg and they had four children. She continued to create, teach, and mentor art. In recognition of her community service, she was inducted into the Order of Manitoba (2013) and was selected as a Manitoba Women Trailblazer (2021).

She died at the Grace Hospital on 7 April 2023.

Some of her sculpting works in Manitoba included:

Sculpture

Location

Year

Women’s Tri-Service Monument

Memorial Park, Winnipeg

1976

First Flight Monument

Memorial Park, Winnipeg

1984

Bruce Chown

Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame

1988

Dufferin Roblin

Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame

1992

Geraldine MacNamara

Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame

1997

Nellie McClung

Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame

1998

Israel Asper

Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame

1999

Donald Ian MacDonald

Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame

2002

Edward Lancaster Drewry

Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame

2005

Famous Five Monument

Osborne Street, Winnipeg

2010

Prairie Sailor Monument

51 Smith Street, Winnipeg

2014

Sources:

Obituary [William Allan Young], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 April 2003.

Helen Granger Young, Canadian Women Artists History Initiative.

Helen Granger Young O.M., A.O.C.A., The Nellie McClung Foundation.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 15 April 2023.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 May 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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