Grant MacEwan

John Walter Grant MacEwan (August 12, 1902 – June 15, 2000) was a Canadian farmer, professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Dean of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba, the 28th Mayor of Calgary and both a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Canada.

MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, and the MacEwan Student Centre at the University of Calgary as well as the neighbourhoods of MacEwan Glen in Calgary and MacEwan in Edmonton are named after him.

MacEwan's grandparents were Highland Scottish.

George MacEwen (Grant MacEwan changed his name to "MacEwan" with an "a" sometime in the 1920s), his paternal grandfather, came from Stirling, Scotland, to farm in Guelph, Ontario, and married Annie Cowan, another Scot.

These two had a son, Alexander MacEwen.

After leaving home, Alexander went to Brandon, Manitoba to begin a farm of his own, and was introduced to Bertha Grant (his neighbour James Grant's sister) and soon got married.

Bertha and Alexander were MacEwan's parents.

Bertha was a devout Presbyterian.

This strong Scottish, Presbyterian, and agriculture-driven heritage was influential in MacEwan's life.

MacEwan was born in Brandon, Manitoba, and lived there until the age of thirteen.

Because of problems with his father's fire-extinguisher business, the family moved to Melfort, Saskatchewan, to begin a life of farming.

As a boy, MacEwan was entrepreneurial, entering into many different businesses, especially cattle.

Most of his first big investments were in cows, either for entering into shows or for producing calves and milk.

MacEwan also delivered newspapers and sold vegetables and various other items.

At the age of twelve, he began working at a grocery store.

He went to school and spent most of his time helping out on the family farm.

In 1921, at the age of nineteen, MacEwan went to Guelph, Ontario to attend the Ontario Agricultural College (then, an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto).

He attended the OAC for five years before going back to Melfort.

MacEwan was often placed among the top of his class.

He lived in College, and took part in a multitude of campus activities, including the football and basketball teams.

In his first two years he completed a preliminary agricultural education.

This then allowed him to attend the school for another three years to get a full degree.

During his time at school his brother George fell ill with spinal meningitis and died on March 27, 1924.

This event was hard on both MacEwan and his parents.

His family was very tightly knit, and George had been very close to his parents.

On May 28, 1926, MacEwan graduated from the OAC along with 33 other boys with a BSc degree.

After receiving the degree he returned home.

In 1927, he received an invitation to study at the Iowa State College of Agriculture, now Iowa State University.

He once again left home to complete a one-year program.

In 1928, he received an MSc degree from the university.

MacEwan held a position first as a professor, then Head of Animal Husbandry at the University of Saskatchewan from 1928 to 1946.

It was here that he developed as an agriculturalist.

He researched and published manuscripts on many farming and ranching techniques.

During this period, MacEwan traveled away from the university to many farms across Saskatchewan to lecture, judge animals and give meat-cutting lessons.

In 1932, MacEwan took a trip to Great Britain with a load of cattle, to observe ranching practices in the British Isles.

He visited Scotland and recorded in his journal that, "it is but little wonder that such a unique country has produced the best horses, the best cattle, and the best men in the world."

(see Foran, Max reference) He also visited Wales, England and Jersey.

He returned to Canada via the Hudson Bay ship route north along the coasts of Iceland and Greenland, then entering Hudson Bay and landing at Churchill, Manitoba.

He was the first person to go through customs at the new port in Churchill.

MacEwan married Phyllis Cline, a school teacher from Saskatchewan, in 1935.