Fonds PR-1792 - Allan H. DeWolf fonds

Allan H. DeWolf (1887-1967) was born in Mora, Minnesota, and graduated from Northwestern Military Academy and the University of Minnesota. In 1907 or 1908 he emigrated to Canada, and earned professional designations as a B.C. land surveyor (B.C.L.S.) and engineer (Canadian Institute of Forestry). He married Ethel Minnie Fink in Spokane, Washington in 1912. In Cranbrook, with Arthur M. Ham, he formed the DeWolf and Ham Construction Company. Their work included road and mine construction and surveying. DeWolf also became recognized as a specialist in the design and construction of log flumes. Between 1919 and 1935, among other notable projects in B.C. and Alberta, he built the B.C. Spruce Mills flume in the Moyie River valley at Lumberton, B.C. Between 1935 and 1951 DeWolf lived in Timmins and Aroland, Ontario. His activities included designing and building flumes for Abitibi Pulp and Paper in Quebec, and operating a logging company. In 1950 he returned to British Columbia as manager of Nicola Valley Sawmills in Merritt B.C., and supervised the building of its new mill. In 1957 he retired from the lumber industry and set up his own business (DeWolf and Leggett) as a surveyor, which he carried on until retiring in 1962. He was an early proponent of a new highway through the Coquihalla region. Allan DeWolf died in Merritt, B.C. at age 80, in 1967. DeWolf had two children. His daughter, Gladys Genevieve DeWolf was born in Spokane, Washington, in 1915, and raised in Cranbrook. Between 1943 and 1945 she served in the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division (RCAF WD) based at RCAF Station in Fingal, Ontario. Gladys DeWolf married Peter Malach in Toronto in 1945. Allan DeWolf's son, Jack Monroe DeWolf, was born in Cranbrook, B.C. in 1917. Between 1942 and 1945 he served with the Canadian Forestry Corps. In 1957 he became manager of Nicola Valley Sawmills in Merritt.