John Percy Page

John Percy Page

John Percy Page (born May 14, 1887 in Rochester , New York , † March 2, 1973 in Edmonton , Alberta ) was a Canadian politician, teacher and basketball coach. From 1959 to 1966 he was Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Alberta.

biography

job

A few years after his birth in New York, the family moved Page to Bronte in the province of Ontario , where John Percy Page grew up. After leaving school, he embarked on an academic career. After attending two different universities, he earned a bachelor's degree in art and finance. In 1910 he married Page Maude Roche, with whom he had a daughter.

In 1906, Page began teaching at Rothesay Collegiate in Rothesay . However, he left this school after a year and worked at the St. Thomas Collegiate Institute until 1912 . He later taught at a high school in Edmonton , where he also looked after the women's basketball team . On this sporting topic, he published the book Practical Office Training in 1932 . His team Edmonton Grads was so successful that they took part in four Olympic finals, including in 1936 in Berlin (basketball for women was then only a demonstration sport and has only been part of the official program since 1976). The Edmonton Grads managed to go undefeated in all four finals. Of the 522 games they played under his supervision, they won 502. In 1940 the team was disbanded. In 1952, Page retired.

politics

In 1940 Page was elected as an independent candidate to the Alberta Legislative Assembly, where he represented Edmonton constituency. Four years later he won the election again. From 1944 to 1948 he worked as an opposition leader in parliament. After he was voted out of office in 1948, he made it back into parliament in 1952, this time on the side of the Conservative Party of Alberta . Page was the Conservative faction leader and was re-elected in 1955. After another election defeat, he had to give up his mandate in 1959.

On the recommendation of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker , Page was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Alberta on December 19, 1959. He thus took over the office of John James Bowlen, who recently died in office . In 1964 he secured a further nomination and finally held the office until January 6, 1966. Page died on March 2, 1973 in Edmonton and was buried in Edmonton Cemetery .

Honors

The Percy Page Center for Recreation Associations was named after him. After his death, a school in Edmonton was also named after him.

Web links

• Biography Pages on the Alberta Legislative Assembly page
• John Percy Page ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .