Memorable Manitobans: Gerald Bowen “Gerry” Williams (1913-2001)

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Gerald Bowen Williams
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Engineer, civil servant.

Born at Winnipeg on 21 June 1913, son of William S. Williams (1872-?) and Mary Esther McBride (1870-?), following his graduation from engineering at the University of Manitoba in 1935, he worked as a gravel inspector with the Public Works Department. Over the next three years, he was employed as a testing engineer, materials inspector, and resident engineer on paving construction. He then worked as department materials engineer and testing laboratory supervisor (1939-1946).

After his appointment as executive assistant to the Deputy Minister of Public Works, he was made maintenance engineer on the Highways Branch on 30 June 1948. He became Chief Engineer of the Manitoba Highways Branch on 1 July 1949. He later moved to Ottawa, serving as Chief Engineer for the Trans-Canada Highway, and rose by 1976 to the position of Deputy Minister of Public Works.

On 20 September 1941, he married Alison Broatch Haig (?-?, daughter of John Thomas Haig) at Westminster United Church.

He died at Ottawa, Ontario on 5 June 2001.

Sources:

Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1916 Canada census, Ancestry.

“Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Bowen Williams,” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 September 1941, page 4.

“Williams named chief engineer,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 August 1949. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B10, page 118]

“Engineers to receive awards,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 October 1977, page 35.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 9 June 2001.

This page was prepared by Sarah Ramsden and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 3 March 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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