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Nislaganoose

  • Person
  • [[18-?]-1864

A senior chief of the Gitlan tribe of the Tsimshian.

Nwalipenja, Ekwele Lobe

  • Person
  • 1930-2005

Ekwele Lobe Nwalipenja was a Cameroonian teacher and government official. Nwalipenja was November 26, 1930 at Lobe Batanga in the Ndian division of what is now Cameroon. He attended elementary school in Kurumeh and Kumba, going on to study at the Government Teachers Training College, Kumba, in 1950 and then to Bambili where he studied rural science in 1958. He worked as a school manager from 1961 to 1964. In 1964 he was awarded a scholarship from the Presbyterian Church in Canada, where he travelled at the age of 35 to study at St. Paul's University College in Waterloo, Ontario, leaving a wife and four children in Cameroon. He graduated from St. Paul's with a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science in 1966, returning to Cameroon where he went on to spend the remainder of his career in various government roles. He served as Secretary for all council schools of what was then West Cameroon in 1967, and a year later was appointed Education Officer in the North West Province. In 1972 he was appointed Secretary of State of the economic division of the Prime Minister's office and went on to serve as Member of Parliament for Ndian Division, among other roles, including Minister Plenipotentiary.

Nyberg, Henry

  • Person
  • 1872-[after 1948]

Henry Nyberg, Swedish engineer and car manufacturer, was born on September 11, 1872 in Helvi, Gotland, Sweden and left Sweden for the United States, arriving in Chicago, Illinois in January, 1896. He was first president of the Swedish Engineers' Society of Chicago, founded in 1908. In 1913, he went to Kitchener, Ontario to run a factory for the Regal Motor Car Company, and there he started the Dominion Truck Equipment Company. In 1919, he moved to England, where he started the Four Wheel Drive Lorry Company. He retired to Sweden in 1932.

O Broin, Padraig

  • Person
  • 1908-1967

Padraig O Broin was born in Clontarf, Ireland in 1908. He emigrated with his family to Toronto, Ontario as a child. O Broin was the founding editor of Teangadoir. As a writer and poet he published numerous works including the collections Than any Star (1962) and No Casual Trespass (1967). He was also the editor and publisher of the Gaelic literary magazine Teangadoir worked contributed "Feargus Rua Cecinit" to a historical anthology of Gaelic lyrics.

Ober, Warren U.

  • Person
  • 1925-

Dr. Warren Ober (b. 1925) is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Ober came to Waterloo in 1965 from Northern Illinois University when he accepted the position of Chair of English, and retired in 1994. He has written, or collaborated on, works about Keats, Wordsworth, Alice Munro, Thomas Crofton Croker, William Blake, and Pearl Harbor.

Oberholtzer, Melinda Carolina

  • Person
  • 1841-1912

Melinda Carolina Cook was born January 12, 1841 in Beverly Township, Wentworth County, Ontario to James and Elizabeth Cook. She married Aaron B. Oberholtzer (1836-1910) on September 7, 1858. Melinda Carolina Oberholtzer died December 12, 1912.

Oberlander, Helmut

  • Person
  • 1924-

Helmut Oberlander was born on February 15, 1924 in Halbstadt, a Russian Mennonite settlement in what is now Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine.

During the Second World War, he served in the Waffen-SS and acted as an interpreter for the Einsatzkommando 10a. He was also a member of the Sicherheitsdienst and Sicherheitspolizei. The Einsatzkommando was a mobile killing squad in Nazis Germany responsible for the deaths of thousands of people during the war. Oberlander maintains he was forcibly conscripted into military service and that his duties only included translating Russian radio transmissions, acting as an interpreter, and guarding military supplies.

Oberlander immigrated to Canada in 1954 and settled in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. He opened a construction business and became a Canadian citizen in 1960.

The Government of Canada initiated a denaturalization and deportation process against Oberlander in 1995 for not disclosing his wartime record during his immigration interview in 1953. Between 1995 and 2018, numerous court orders were filed to strip Oberlander of his citizenship. Oberlander consistently appealed these orders.

In 2000, Judge Andrew Mackay concluded that while Oberlander may not have disclosed his wartime record there was no evidence proving he was involved in committing any war crimes or crimes against humanity.

In 2017 the Government of Canada stripped Oberlander of his citizenship for a fourth time through an Order in Council. In 2018, the Federal Court ruled that this revocation was lawful. Oberlander's appeal was dismissed in the Federal Court of Appeal in April 2019. The Supreme Court of Canada declined to grant Oberlander's leave to appeal the Federal Court decision December 2019. In 2020, Oberlander also lost his appeal to the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Odynsky, Wasyl

  • Person
  • 1924-2014

Wasyl Odynsky was born on January 8, 1924.

During the Second World War, Odynsky served as a guard in an auxiliary unit at the Trawniki and Poniatowa forced labour camps in Poland.

Following the war, Odynsky immigrated to Canada in 1949.

On September 24, 1997, Odynsky was charged by the Canadian Government for having misrepresented himself upon immigrating to Canada. The Canadian Government tried to revoke Odysnky’s Canadian citizenship through the denaturalization and deportation process. On March 2, 2001, Judge Andrew MacKay of the Federal Court of Canada concluded that Odynsky’s service was not voluntary and he did not personally participate in any incident involving the mistreatment of prisoners or of any other person during his service. Although his citizenship was not revoked, numerous bids were made to try and revoke Odynsky’s Canadian citizenship in subsequent years.

Wasyl Odynsky died on May 16, 2014.

Oliver, Richard Warren

  • Person
  • 1897-1969

Richard Warren Oliver, lansdcape architect, was born February 9, 1897 in Hamilton, Ontario to Thomas Oliver and Mary Ellen Riddle. He married Helen Catharine Campbell on September 23, 1926. He worked as a horticulturist at the Dominion Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Ontario as well as taking on private commissions. He died December 27, 1969.

O'Meara, Arthur Eugene

  • Person
  • 1859-?

Arthur Eugene O'Meara was born in 1859 in Port Hope, Ontario.

He obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in 1882 and was called to the bar in 1885. He also became a clergyman around age 40.

Arthur O'Meara worked closely with Indigenous peoples primarily in British Columbia to bring protests and concerns over land claims to government bodies. He notably served as a counsel member during the Allied Tribes of British Columbia's historic presentation regarding land claims to the 1927 Special Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons

Opie, Amelia

  • Person
  • 1769-1853

Amelia Alderson was an English Romantic author. Amelia was born November 12, 1769 in Norwich, England and married the painter John Opie in 1798. She was a radical thinker and involved in a circle that included John Horne Tooke and Mary Wollstonecraft. In 1801 Amelia published her first work under her name, "Father and Daughter," and subsequently wrote 25 more novels, biographies and volumes of verse. Amelia died in 1853.

Page, Forsey

  • Person
  • 1885-1970

Forsey Pemberton Bull Page, architect, was born September 22, 1885. He went into partnership in 1926 with Harland W. Steele to form Page and Steele, Architects, in Toronto, Ontario. He died November 22, 1970.

Paisley, Margaret Catherine

  • Person
  • 1906-2003

Margaret "Marnie" Catherine Anthes Paisley was a teacher born in Berlin, now Kitchener, Ontario on November 1, 1906 to Talmon and Martha Rieder. She graduated in 1929 with an arts degree from the University of Toronto, where she played women's hockey. Following graduation she spent a year working alongside Emma Razt Kaufman to expand the YWCA in Japan. She married Elmer Paisley, with whom she had two children: Mary ("Penny ") and Ian. Paisley taught at the Kitchener Collegiate Institute and Waterloo Collegiate between 1955 and 1969. She was also an active member of the United Church, serving as a Sunday school teacher and director of summer camps. Paisley died June 11, 2003 and was interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Kitchener.

Palmer, Dorothea

  • Person
  • 1908-1992

Dorothea Palmer was born 1908 in England. She had some training in a hospital in England. She was employed as a nurse by the Parents' Information Bureau of Kitchener, Ont. to visit homes of those known to be poor or relatively poor, and to offer to needy mothers the opportunity of applying for certain contraceptive materials. Miss Palmer was arrested at Eastview, an Ottawa suburb, as she was leaving the home of a French Roman Catholic family which was on relief and had a large number of children. The mother had telephoned Miss Palmer and asked her to call. Miss Palmer was arrested on the charge of distributing birth control information and contraceptive devices. The trial occupied nineteen days of testimony and four of argument, and during which forty witnesses were examined. The case was a remarkable one in that the decision overruled religious and medical objections to the dissemination of birth control information. She was acquitted March 17, 1937 after a trial that extended over a period of six months. The Crown appealed the case which was heard on the 1st and 2nd of June 1937, by the Court of Appeal for Ontario, presided over by the Chief Justice of Ontario and two Associate Judges. The Appeal was dismissed without Defence Counsel F.W. Wegenast being called. Dorothea died in 1992.

Panabaker, John H.

  • Person
  • 1928-2023

John Panabaker is the former President of the Mutual Life Assurance Company of Canada. Panabaker attended McMaster University where he received his B.A. Hons in Political Economy (1950) and his M.A. in Political Economy (1954). After leaving McMaster he began working for the Mutual Life Assurance Company of Canada where he would eventually be named President (1973) and later CEO (1982-1985). He retired from Mutual Life in 1989.
Panabaker has also been involved with a number of organizations in Kitchener-Waterloo and nationally including serving as Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Life and Health Assurance Association, as a trustee of the Toronto School of Theology, as president of the Kitchener-Waterloo Community Foundation, and as a director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra Association. Panabaker was also the Chancellor of McMaster University from 1986-1992 and holds honorary degrees from McMaster, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo. In 1990, Panabaker was made a member of the Order of Canada.

Panton, James Hoyes

  • Person
  • 1847-1898

Educator James Hoyes Panton was born in Ontario and moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in the early 1880's. He was a member of the Manitoba Historical Society and collected geological specimens throughout the province. In 1884 he returned to Ontario to be professor of Geology and Natural History at the Ontario Agricultural College (University of Guelph) where he remained until 1897. He died February 2, 1898.

Parry, John Roland

  • Person
  • 1879-1956

John Roland Parry was a Canadian physician. He was born June 13, 1879 in Dunville, Ontario to John Parry and Margaret Jane Gailbraith. He married Louise Evelyn Breithaupt on October 31, 1906. The couple live in the Hamilton area and had four children: Margaret Magdalen; Emma Elizabeth; Rosa Evelyn and Louis John. John died in Hamilton on August 27, 1956 and was interred at the Hamilton Cemetery.

Parry, Louise Evelyn

  • Person
  • 1882-1939

Louise Evelyn Breithaupt was born June 11, 1882, in Berlin (later Kitchener), Ontario, the first child of Louis Jacob Breithaupt and Emma Alvarene Devitt. She had six siblings: Emma Lillian; Martha Edna; Rose Melvina; Louise Orville; William Walter; Catherine Olive and Paul Theodore. She married Doctor John Roland Parry of Dunnville October 31, 1906 and the couple lived in Hamilton, Ontario. They had four children: Margaret Magdalen, Emma Elizabeth, Rosa Evelyn and Louis John. Louise died in Hamilton October 20, 1939. Husband John died August 27, 1956.

Patterson, E Palmer

  • Person
  • 1927-

E Palmer Patterson II is a writer and former faculty member at the University of Waterloo and St. Jerome's University.

Patterson was born in 1927 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His history PhD thesis focused on the life and career of Andrew (Andy) Paull. He briefly taught in the United States before moving to Canada in 1962 to accept a faculty position at St. Jerome's University. He taught there until 1964, at which time he transferred to the University of Waterloo where he taught courses in the Department of History.

Patterson's research and the courses he taught focused on the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada and the American south during the post civil war period. He wrote a number of publications about Indigenous peoples in Canada for academic journals as well as textbooks for elementary and secondary school children in Ontario and British Columbia. One of his most notable works remains, "The Canadian Indian: a history since 1500," published between 1971-1972.

Patterson married his wife Nancy-Lou in Seattle, Washington on June 10, 1951. Together they raised eight children.

Patterson, John

  • Person

John Patterson was a member of the Muskoka Lakes Association between 1980 and 1994 and acted as president between 1990 and 1992. John acted also as a Muskoka Lakes Association Director between 1985 and 1986 as 2nd Vice-President and Taxation. He was a member of the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain between 1982 and 1983.

Patterson, Nancy-Lou

  • Person
  • 1929-2018

The daughter of academic parents, Nancy-Lou Patterson was born in 1929 in Worcester, Mass. She received her BA in Fine Arts from the University of Washington in 1951, afterwards working for two years as a scientific illustrator at the University of Kansas and at the Smithsonian and then for nine years as a lecturer at Seattle University.

In 1962 she moved to the Waterloo Region with her husband, Dr. E Palmer Patterson, who was to teach at the University of Waterloo. In addition to her position as Director of Art and Curator of the University's art gallery, in 1966 Professor Patterson taught the University of Waterloo's first Fine Arts course, and in 1968 she founded the Department of Fine Arts, twice serving as Department Chair.

As a scholar Nancy-Lou Patterson is well known for her writings in the area of mythopoeic art and literature, with particular focus on the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, Charles Williams and Dorothy L. Sayers. She has written extensively on the traditional arts of Swiss German and Dutch-German Mennonites of Waterloo County, and also on the art of Native Canadians. Her work includes both book and exhibition reviews, and exhibition catalogues. She has published both poetry and fiction, including her three novels Apple Staff and Silver Crown (1985), The Painted Hallway (1992), and Barricade Summer (1996). Nancy-Lou Patterson's artistic career began in 1953 when she created a mural for an Anglican Church in Kansas, and includes a series of stained glass windows designed in 1964 for Conrad Grebel Chapel at the University of Waterloo. Her liturgical commissions have involved work in textiles, stained glass, wood, metal, terra cotta, and calligraphy.

In 1993 Nancy-Lou Patterson was named "Distinguished Professor Emerita" by the University of Waterloo, and in the same year received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in recognition of "a life dedicated to expression."

Patterson died in Kitchener on October 15, 2018.

Patteson, Joan

  • Person
  • 1869-1960

Joan Patteson was born Mary Joan McWhirter in Woodstock, Ontario on November 27, 1869. On November 25, 1895, she married Godfroy Patteson. Joan and Godfroy Patteson were close friends of William Lyon Mackenzie King. Joan died on April 23, 1960.

Paull, Andrew

  • Person
  • 1892-1959

Andrew (Andy) Paull was born to Dan Paull and Theresa Paull (née Lacket-Joe) on February 6, 1892 at Potlach Creek, near Squamish. He was raised in the village of Stawamus, near Squamish, British Columbia but later moved the village of Eslha7an in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

He attended St. Paul's Indian Residential School when it first opened in 1899 and remained a student there for six years. During this time, Paull served as an altar boy at the St. Paul's Mission Church. Afterwards, he likely spent two years receiving special instruction in Squamish affairs from local Squamish chiefs.

In 1907, he went to the law offices of Hugh St. Quentin Cayley and learned about the practice of law.

In 1911, Paull served as Secretary when chiefs from different Squamish reserves met together. In 1923, the seventeen Squamish bands were united into one. Paull served as the Secretary of the new Squamish Band Council between 1923 and 1934. Around this time, he also served as the Secretary of the Allied Tribes of British Columbia.

During the Allied Tribes of British Columbia's historic presentation regarding land claims to the 1927 Special Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons, Paull acted as a witness. Although the Committee rejected the land claims of the Allied Tribes, Paull's testimony was well-received and he achieved national recognition in Ottawa.

Throughout his life, Paull was a Squamish leader and activist. He fought for a number of issues including Indigenous rights and title, education, potlatching, and political organizing.

Paull was also a freelance sports reporter for the Vancouver Province in the 1930s and frequently played, managed or promoted sports such as baseball, lacrosse, boxing, and canoe racing. He occasionally appeared on radio programmes.

Andrew Paull married Josephine Joseph in 1914 and together they had seven children. Paull died on July 28, 1959 at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver.

Paxton

  • Person

Pequegnat, Marcel

  • Person
  • 1886-1988

Marcel Pequegnat was a civil engineer in Kitchener, Ontario, who spent his professional career with the Kitchener Water Commission as superintendent and consultant. He was also involved in the Grand River Conservation Commission and the Arthur Pequegnat Clock Company.

Pequegnat was born in Berlin (now Kitchener) April 27, 1886 to clockmaker Arthur Pequegnat and his wife Hortense (nee Marchand), Marcel studied engineering at the University of Toronto. After graduating he taught at the University and worked for several summers for the Berlin City Enginneers. In 1910-1911, he surveyed land in Manitoba, and in 1913, he was appointed assistant city engineer in Berlin. In 1919, he became superintendent of the Kitchener Water Commission, holding this position until 1957 when he became a consultant until retiring in 1970. Pequegnat also served for 27 years on the Kitchener Planning Board and for 30 years on the Kitchener Suburban Roads Commission. He was president of the Arthur Pequegnat Clock Company from 1940 to 1964, though for most of that time the company was dormant, having ceased clock production by 1942.

Pequegnat was a founding member of the Grand River Conservation Commission (GRCC) when it formed in 1932 and served as vice-chairman from 1938 to 1952, chairman from 1953-1959, and chief engineer from 1962 to 1965. His period of service with the GRCC coincided with the building of the Shand, Luther, and Conestogo dams. He was also Life Member of the Engineering Institute of Canada, a charter member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, and received their Citizenship Award in 1973. He also was awarded Life Membership in the American Waterworks Association.

Pequegnat married Nellie Elizabeth Klippert (1888-1972) December 28, 1910 and together they had three children. He died in 1988 and was buried alongside Elizabeth in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Pestel, Madame

  • Person
  • 1869-1940

Madame Pestel was the trade name of the photographer Ann Pestel (Chetham) who operated a studio in Eastbourne, U.K. from 1900 until 1930. Pestel took over her husband’s (Henry Pestel, 1869-1900) photographic portrait studio at 49 Terminus Road, Eastbourne when he died in 1900 at the age of 32.

Phatak, Swaran

  • Person
  • 1927-2009

Swaran Phatak was an Indian-born librarian. Phatak was born December 8, 1927 in New Delhi, India, the only child of Pritam Das and Krishna Devi. After graduating from Punjab University with a bachelor of arts, she obtained an MLIS from London Polytechnic in 1956. She held a variety of roles in libraries in India, England, the West Indies, Canada and the United States including as librarian at the New Delhi Public Library, the British Council Library, the U.S. Library of Congress Book Procurement Centre and the London Public Library. Phatak moved to Kitchener-Waterloo from Rochester, New York in 1964 where she served as children's librarian at Kitchener Public Library (1964-65); chief librarian at the Preston Public Library; and as deputy chief librarian at Waterloo Public Library.

Phatak moved to Georgia in 1975 with her husband, Sharad C. Phatak, and their two children where Sharad worked as an associate professor at the University of Georgia. Phatak died November 21, 2009 in Tifton, Georgia.

Philip, Prince, consort of Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain

  • Person
  • 1921-2021

Prince Philip (born June 10, 1921) was the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice. Philip was married to Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Together they had four children together: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He died April 9, 2021.

Philip, William A.

  • Person
  • 1871-1964

William A. Philip, banker and conservationist, was born on February 11, 1873 in Fergus, Ontario. He resided in Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario. He was a founder of the Grand River Conservation Commission and its president for 18 years; he later served as chair of the Grand Valley Conservation Authority. He died April 7, 1964.

Pickard, Mabel Laura Ahrens

  • Person
  • 1888-1943

Mabel Ahrens was born October 11, 1888, in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario to parents Henry J., Ahrens and Caroline Seiler. She married William Pickard on April 7, 1921. Mabel died November 29, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Pincock, Jenny O'Hara

  • Person
  • 1891-1948

Jenny O'Hara Pincock was born in Madoc, Hastings County, Ontario on April 13, 1891. Her great-grandfather had been a settler in the area. Pincock studied music at the Ontario Ladies' College in Whitby, Ontario (ca. 1908) and at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (ca. 1912). On June 15, 1915 she married osteopath Robert Newton Pincock (1883-1928) and moved with him to St. Catharines where he maintained a practice.

In 1927, along with her sister Minnie and brother-in-law Rev. Fred J.T. Maines, who was minister of the Church of Divine Revelation in St. Catharine's, Pincock began to organize seances with Mr. William Cartheuser, an American medium. She was often responsible for taking notes. In 1935 Jenny Pincock ceased connection with Cartheuser and with the Church of Divine Revelation. Two years later she moved from St. Catharines to Kitchener, Ontario. In 1942 she purchased and moved to property formerly owned by her grandfather near Madoc. Pincock died on July 13, 1948 in Kitchener.

A book of verse by Jenny Pincock titled Hidden Springs was published posthumously (Privately printed, 1950) with an introduction by E.J. Pratt.

Pindera, Jerzy Tadeusz

  • Person

Jerzy-Tadeusz Pindera was born December 4, 1914 in the village of Czchow, in what was then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire (now Poland) and raised in Chelm. Pindera was born into a middle class Catholic family living with his mother who was a teacher and his step- father who was a civil servant. Pindera attended elementary and high school in Chelm. Pindera later joined the local scouting branch and did some paramilitary courses while in high school. In 1933 he graduated and passed his entrance exams for the Technical University of Warsaw. While at the University of Warsaw Pindera studied Mechanical Engineering, with an emphasis on Aeronautics. He was also a member of the Academic Scouting Organization and the Academic Detachment of the Rifleman Association.

After graduating in 1936 Pindera enlisted in the army for his mandatory one year of military service, with an eye on attending graduate school for aeronautical engineering the following year. After completing his military service Pindera went back to University of Warsaw and enrolled in the M.Sc. program in Aeronautical Engineering. Here he gained what would become invaluable experience working on the floor in an airplane manufacturing plant, and in learning to fly.

On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland and Pindera’s military unit was mobilized. He was sent to Wlodawa to join the Ninth Regiment of Heavy Artillery. After the
Soviet invasion of Poland, Pindera attempted to reach Warsaw in a reconnaissance plane with Polish markings liberated from a local airfield taken over by the Soviet Army. Following a river he encountered an “interesting situation”: he was fired upon by both the Soviets and Germans each occupying either side of the river. He was finally was shot down by a unit of regular German Army anti-aircraft battery, captured, and taken to a field hospital outside of Warsaw.

In subsequent conversation with his captors he was apparently lucky: a Waffen SturmStaffel (SS) unit was located several kilometers from his point of capture. This unit executed on the spot all Polish officers. He escaped the hospital in October of that year, fled to Chelm, and eventually decided to try to escape to Hungary. Pindera’s war time experience, education, and political affiliations while at University made it likely that he would be part of the group of Polish political activists and intelligentsia that were being captured by the Germans. In February of 1940 Pindera attempted to escape to Hungary with the intent of ultimately joining the Polish military units being formed in the UK, only to be arrested by Ukrainian police working for the Gestapo and taken to a cell with other Polish political prisoners. In July of 1940 Pindera received his sentence from Berlin - he was to be sent to a concentration camp, with the notation “Return Undesired.” In August of 1940 Pindera arrived at Konzentrationslager (KZ) Sachsenhausen.

While at Sachsenhausen, Pindera helped to organize resistance amongst Polish political prisoners aimed at slowing down the rate of killings by the Nazi guards and their
inmate collaborators, and at carrying out acts of sabotage to slow down the Nazi war machine. He was doing this while slowly being worked to death on various concentration camp work details. His activities attracted the attention of the established resistance group within the camp, comprised most notably of German communists and socialists. The latter formed the original prison population of the camp during the Nazi takeover of the German government and the subsequent drive to eliminate all traces of opposition to the Nazi rule. A member of this group saved him from impending death as his weight had fallen below 30 kilograms by 1942. Pindera’s contact and collaboration with this leading resistance group, and friendship with one member who was also working in the camp’s construction office, or Bauburo of the concentration camp, as well as his engineering background, made it possible to start working as an engineer for the Bauburo when an opening became available.

After spending five years in various “blocks” at Sachsenhausen, Pindera and the other 95,000 prisoners were marched from the camp in April of 1945 as Soviet and American troops
advanced in an attempt by the Nazis to eliminate the evidence of the concentration camp’s existence. The Nazis’ intent was to put the prisoners on barges and then sink the barges in the North Sea. After slightly over a week of marching Pindera and few others escaped the line and fled into the forest away from their SS guards. Two days after this the Soviets liberated the area and Pindera returned to Chelm and his family.

When Pindera returned home he was responsible for looking after his mother and sister, as his step-father had been murdered in a Soviet concentration camp as a political
dissident. He returned to school at Warsaw Technical University and in 1947 he graduated with his masters of Aeronautical Engineering. During the period 1947-1963 Pindera held leadership positions at several research institutes in Warsaw, including Aeronautical Research Institute, Institute of Precision Mechanics, and Institute for Building Research, while working towards his Ph.D. in Mechanics at the Polish Academy of Sciences. He received his PhD in 1959, and subsequently the D.Sc. degree (Dr. Habil.) in Applied Mechanics from the Technical University of Cracow. His research and several books that he had published during this period attracted the attention of researchers on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and made it difficult for the communist authorities to jail him outright for his increasing dissatisfaction with the system and the willingness to speak out publicly. Instrumental in his survival during the Stalinist terror of the 1949-1954 period were his resistance activities in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp as many of his fellow inmates involved in the resistance were now high-ranking party officials, and some were willing to help at their own personal risk.

While attending an international mechanics conference in Paris in the early 1960’s, Pindera met Dr. Felix Zandman, a well-known scientist and entrepreneur from the United
States working in the same area. Dr. Zandman, a Polish Jew whose survival during the war was in large part due to the effort of a Polish family in hiding him and several of his family members in their farm house, took an interest in Pindera’s plight in Poland and decided to help him. Shortly thereafter, Pindera was invited to Michigan State University as a Visiting Professor, and assumed this position in April of 1963, with his family following in November of the same year. In 1965 Pindera accepted a permanent faculty position as Professor of Experimental Mechanics in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He, his wife Aleksandra-Anna and his sons Marek-Jerzy and Maciej-Zenon moved to Canada.

Pindera was a professor at the University of Waterloo until 1983 when he retired from full time teaching. After 1983 he continued to research, guest lecture at other institutions, and
in 1987 he was appointed as Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Besides his teaching work, he wrote numerous refereed journal articles, edited scientific journals, sat on boards and
committees, and held eight patents for laboratory instruments he designed. As well, Pindera was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Cross of Auschwitz and the Maximilian-Kolbe-Werk medal.

One of Pindera’s most lasting contributions to the University of Waterloo was the establishment, in 1979, of the Academic Exchange Program between the Faculty of Engineering
at the University of Waterloo and the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany, for which he received the Das Grosse Verdienstkreuz Medal from the German government. Since the establishment of the program over 200 students from Waterloo and Germany have gone on yearlong study and cultural exchange programs. This exchange program has served as a model for others established by the University of Waterloo.

Pluss

  • Person

Pollock, Arthur Bell

  • Person
  • 1877-1951

Arthur B. Pollock was born in Linwood, Ontario on May 24, 1877. His parents, David and Barbara (nee Livingston) were both born in Scotland. He married Rachel "Racie" L. Boehmer on September 2, 1902 in Kitchener and together they had a son, Carl Arthur. Pollock founded the Pollock Manufacturing Co. in 1907, which later became Dominion Electrohome Industries, Ltd. Pollock died at home on December 16, 1951.

Porter, Dana Harris

  • Person
  • 1901-1967

Dana Harris Porter was born to Dr. George Dana Porter and Lena Harris of the Massey-Harris family in Toronto, Ontario on January 14, 1901. He attended the University of Toronto for his B.A. which he completed in 1921. In September of that year he traveled to England to study at Balliol College, Oxford from which graduated with his M.A. in 1923. He then returned to Canada, and records show that he intended to study for the Ontario Bar. He was called to the bar in 1923 and began practicing litigation law at Fennel, Porter and Davis. During his time at law school he met Dorothy Chaplin Ramsey Parker (born 1905) the daughter of Admiral A.R. Parker. Dorothy had been born in Hong Kong and raised mostly in England having taken many trips to Canada as a child and youth where she stayed with her Uncle the Honourable J.D. Chaplin, an M.P. in St. Catharines. By December of 1928 the couple’s relationship was becoming serious and they were engaged in June 1929. Dorothy was visiting England at the time, and she returned to Canada for their October 5, 1929 wedding. In 1931 their first son, Dana Jr. was born and a second, Julian, followed in 1936.

During this time Porter continued to work at his firm and in 1943 he made the decision to enter into provincial politics. In the 1943 election he ran as a Progressive Conservative in the Toronto riding of St. George, which won him a place in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He would hold this seat until 1958. During his political career he served under three premiers and in a variety of positions. From 1944-1948 he was the Minister of Planning and Development during which time he was instrumental in the airlifting of British immigrants to Canada. From 1948-1951 he was the Minister of Education and was Provincial Secretary and Registrar from 1948-1949. In 1949 Porter ran for head of the Progressive Conservative Party at the 1949 Provincial Tory Leadership Convention, but lost to friend Leslie Frost. Instead, Porter became Attorney General of Ontario, a position he held until 1955. His last role in the Provincial Government was that of Treasurer and Minister of Economics from 1955-1958. Throughout these years he was also a member of numerous standing committees on a broad range of topics.

In 1958 the Progressive Conservatives came into power at the national level with Diefenbaker becoming Prime Minister and Porter stepped down from politics to accept his appointment as Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal. During his tenure he also headed the Royal Commission on Banking and Finance from 1961-1964 and presided over a number of important trials, such as the lifting of the ban on notorious novel Fanny Hill.

Porter also had a number of personal interests and activities that kept him busy. He spoke at a variety of events in Ontario and Canada at large, including convocations, meetings, luncheons etc. He was also an amateur Shakespeare historian and was particularly interested in the Sonnets. He wrote a number of essays on the possible order of the Sonnets, and on the identities of the Dark Lady, the Fair Youth and the Rival Poet. Although an attempt was made to have one of his works published, the furthest that came of it was printed and bound editions that he had made and sent to friends and critics. His literary endeavors did not end with Shakespeare as he also wrote a play and three essays on politics in Canada.
Porter’s dedication to academia lead to many accolades including being installed as the First Chancellor of the University of Waterloo in 1960. He was also on the Board of the University of Toronto and was awarded Honourary degrees from such institutions as McMaster University. The Dana Porter Library at the University of Waterloo was dedicated to and named after him on October 27, 1967, and his portrait hangs in it.

In 1967 Porter stepped down from his position largely due to his failing health. On May 13 of the same year he died of cancer in Toronto.

Pounce de Lion

  • Person
  • 1984-1995

Pounce de Lion was the University of Waterloo Student Alumni Association mascot from 1984 to 1995. He is sometimes referred to as the University of Waterloo Alumni Affairs mascot. Also known simply as Pounce, the mascot officially received his name in 1987. Prior to this, he was likely referred to as the “lion mascot.”

Pounce jumped off the University of Waterloo crest and has been described as a six-foot, cuddly, furry-faced lion. He is brothers with King Warrior, the University of Waterloo Athletics mascot, and Jerome, St. Jerome’s University’s mascot. Pounce is reportedly the older and wiser of the brothers.

During his tenure, Pounce participated in many events on and off campus representing the spirit of the University over all faculties with his friendly demeanor.

In addition to personal appearances, caricatures drawn in Pounce’s likeness were used by the alumni association to promote events and activities on campus. These caricatures were drawn by campus artist Frank Esch. Esch drew Pounce in dozens of poses, from holding a tennis racket to a newspaper in his paws.

By 1987, these caricatures were so popular that some began to copy his picture without permission. As a result, the Alumni office applied to obtain a trademark for Pounce and issued a UW News release asking people to please request permission to use Pounce’s image.

Two lion costumes were used for Pounce between 1984 and 1995, both of which are held by the University of Waterloo Archives.

In the early 1990s, plush toys of Pounce were available for purchase in the Open Door gift shop in South Campus Hall. The small plush could be bought for $17.99 and the larger twelve-inch plush toy could be purchased for $21.99.

Pyke, Edgar William

  • Person
  • 1891-1981

Born April 12, 1891 to William Thomas Pyke and Annie Warner, Edgar William Pyke was a high school classics teacher who collected coins to use for teaching examples for his classes. Raised in Toronto, he attended McMaster University until his schooling was interrupted by the First World War. Edgar enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on May 20, 1916 and was sent to France. He was wounded at Vimy in April of 1917 suffering a shrapnel wound to the left arm and chest. After being invalided back to Canada he recovered at the Central Military Convalescence Hospital before returning to his studies. He graduated in 1919 and was able to secure employment as a teacher of classics. On August 4, 1925 he married Ethel Morgan of England. Edgar died in 1981 and is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.

Rae, Bob

  • Person
  • 1948-
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