Lawyer, judge.
Born at Regina, Saskatchewan on 19 December 1922, one of six children of furrier William David Rich (1880-1957) and Florence Stoller (1889-1973), he moved to Winnipeg as a child. During the Second World War, he served as a navigator in the Royal Canadian Air Force Bomber Command. Returning from military service, he obtained a BA degree from United College (1950) and a law degree from the University of Manitoba (1953).
He then practiced family law at Winnipeg and was made a Queen’s Counsel in 1975. In 1969, he was appointed a part-time judge in the Provincial Court. He had extensive experience as a labour arbitrator, served on the Board for Legal Aid Manitoba, and was an administrator and lecturer in the Manitoba Bar Admissions Program. He was a President (1977-1978) and Life Bencher of the Law Society of Manitoba. He was also a member of the Manitoba Bar Association.
On 5 October 1962, he married teacher Joyce Ellen Parkinson (1930-2026, daughter of Hazel McDonald and Osborne B. Parkinson) at Winnipeg. They had no children.
He died at Victoria Beach on 16 September 2000.
“Fur clinic founder is buried here,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 December 1957, page 25.
“Rich - Parkinson,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 October 1962, page 43.
Obituary [Florence Rich], Winnipeg Free Press, 25 July 1973, page 33.
“Manitoba names 9 new QCs,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 January 1975, page 43.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 19 September 2000, page 45.
Death registration [Florence Rich], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Joyce Ellen Rich], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 June 2026.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 14 June 2026
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