Roger E. Gofton was born on January 4,1863 in Wilmot Township to Robert and Rosannah Fonger Gofton. His occupation was in woodworking. He married Elizabeth Schnieder, the sister of J.M. Schneider, October 20, 1886. Together they had a son named Alfred Schneider Gofton. After the unexpected death of Elizabeth in 1894, Gofton married Anna Woelfle with whom he had 8 children. He died April 3, 1949 and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Alexander Rodgers Goldie was born June 4, 1873 in Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario to to John Goldie and Margaret Rodgers. After graduating as an engineer in 1893, he went to work in the Goldie McCullough Company, partly owned by his father. He became became president of Babcock-Wilcox & Goldie-McCulloch Co. Ltd. in 1932, and was active in local affairs throughout his life. He died November 9, 1951.

John Goldie was born in Ayreshire, Scotland. He married Margaret Smith on June 18, 1815 and they had eight children : William, John, Elizabeth, James, Jane, Margaret, David and Mary. A botanist and plant collector, he travelled to Canada, New York State, the Maritimes and Russia and discovered species unknown at the time. In 1844 Goldie moved his family to Ontario, to a property which became known as Greenfield, near Ayr, where the family founded first a sawmill, and then a flour and oatmeal mill in 1848.

James Goldie (1824-1912) was the third son of John Goldie. He had moved to the United States in 1842, where he was employed as a gardener and was involved in the flour and lumber business. In 1860 he moved to Guelph, where he built the Speedvale Mill. He operated the mill until 1898, at which time it became the James Goldie Company, Ltd.

Manette Emma Irene (Moser) Anderson Goldsworthy was born in 1916 and died February 6, 2000 in Kitchener Ontario.

Gordon Ray Good as a Kaufman Rubber employee. Good was born August 13, 1905 to Reverend Cyrus Good and Livy C. Hallman in Aylmer, Ontario. Gordon’s father was a New Mennonite Church minister and he and Livy had three children besides Gordon: Grace (b. 1901), Ira (b. 1903) and Myrtle (b. 1909). The family moved frequently during his childhood and they first came to Kitchener in 1910. In 1913 they moved to Blair (now Cambridge) and in 1917 back to Kitchener where Gordon would settle for his adult life.

Good originally began working for Merchant’s Rubber, a subsidiary of Dominion Rubber, in 1923 as a pay clerk in the factory office. After two years with Dominion Rubber, he decided to move on and applied at Kaufman Rubber. He began working in the factory office in the Costs & Payroll department on September 2, 1925. Upon the death of his supervisor Ed Snyder, Good took over as head of Costs and Payroll. He remained with Kaufman until his retirement in September of 1972. He died May 5, 2000.

Armistead Churchill Gordon was an American lawyer and writer born December 20, 1855 in Virginia. Gordon attended the University of Virginia, and later studied law, being called to the bar in 1879. Involved in many aspects of higher education in Virginia he was a member of the Board of Visitors of the College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia, as well as being the first chairman of the Virginia State Library Board. Outside of his work in the law, he published multiple books on the history and peoples of Virginia, as well as collections of poetry.

Ruth Anna Catharine Breithaupt was born April 12, 1910 in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario to Albert Liborius and Lydia Louisa Anthes. Her siblings were: Frederick Albert; Maria Martha Louise; Rudolph Anthes; David John; and Arthur Liborius. Ruth was educated as a registered nurse. She married Roderick Gordon (date unknown) and the couple had three children, Catharine Anne, Janet Elizabeth and R. A. James. Ruth died in 2003 in Toronto, Ontario.

Miss Oktoberfest 1974.

Johanna Miriam Priscilla Gowdy was born in 1874 in Waterloo Township. She married John Spiers Taylor in Kingston, Ontario on September 4, 1895.

James Wesley Graham was a Canadian computing pioneer who was known as the "father of computing" at the University of Waterloo and who was "chiefly responsible for the university's international reputation in software development." (Donn Downey, The Globe and Mail).

Born in Copper Cliff, Ontario on Jan. 17, 1932, he studied mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto from 1950-1955. He worked for IBM Canada until 1959 when he joined the University of Waterloo. At first he taught statistics in the the Dept. of Mathematics where a "Computing Centre" was established in 1960. When it became a separate department in 1962, he became the director. He pioneered the creation of software to support education, especially in the teaching of computer programming and in making computing accessible. In the 1960's he worked with the Ministry of Education to develop computer programming instruction courses for high school students. He received the Order of Canada in 1999 for his contributions to computer science. James Wesley Graham died in 1999.

August Gralke Jr. was born in Germany to August and Catherine (nee Krause) Gralke. He died in Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener) at 20 years of age from tuberculosis and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.

The Grand River Conservation Authority is a corporate body governing the cooperative management of the Grand River watershed and its natural resources by municipalities, landowners and other organizations within the watershed. Formed in 1966 following the merging of the Grand River Conservation Commission and the Grand Valley Conservation Authority, the GRCA's origins date back to the 1930s.

In the early 1800s, the Grand River was a source of transportation, power and water for local communities. Settlement led to deforestation, intensive farming and urbanization, which began to hinder the natural cycles of the river. By the 1930s river conditions had become so severe that annual floods, drought and pollution were affecting public health and the economic development of the communities up and down the Grand.

Sponsored by the Grand Valley Boards of Trade and modeled on the fledging Tennessee Valley Authority in the United States, the "Grand River Conservation Commission Act" was passed by the Province of Ontario in 1932. The Grand River Conservation Commission (GRCC) was the first watershed management agency in Canada when it received its formal Letters Patent in August, 1934. The formation of the GRCC marked the first time local municipalities had banded together to address water management issues on a watershed scale. The founding partner municipalities were Brantford, Galt, Kitchener, Fergus and Caledonia. William Philip of Galt was the first chairman, and the commission's head office was in Brantford. Other municipalities soon joined the partnership.

In 1942 the commission completed the Shand Dam near Fergus, the first dam in Canada built for flood control, water supply and water quality purposes. This was followed by the Luther Marsh Dam in 1954 and the Conestogo Dam in 1958. Funding was shared between the federal and provincial governments, (each paid 37.5 per cent) and the local municipalities paid 25 per cent. The GRCC also planted more than two million trees and undertook some of the province's first large scale reforestation projects. The success of the commission, its watershed scope and municipal partnership model led to the Guelph Conference on Conservation in 1941, and the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario in 1946. This new act led to the creation of 36 conservation authorities across the province.

In 1948, the Grand River watershed municipalities formed their own Grand Valley Conservation Authority (GVCA) under this new act. This new agency had extended powers in the 1950s, which allowed it to acquire many wetlands, forests and natural areas in the watershed. The GVCA also acquired park land for camping, swimming, fishing and canoeing including what would become the Elora Gorge, Rockwood, Pinehurst Lake and Byng Island.

Over time the GVCA's objectives began to parallel those of the GRCC and the two agencies merged in 1966 to form the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA), which operates under the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario. As a corporate body, through which municipalities work cooperatively to manage the water and natural resources in the watershed for everyone's benefit.

The Grand River Conservation Commission was the first watershed management agency in Canada when it received its formal Letters Patent in August, 1934. This was the first time local municipalities had banded together to address water management issues on a watershed scale. The founding partner municipalities were Brantford, Galt, Kitchener, Fergus and Caledonia. William Philip of Galt was the first chairman, and the Commission's head office was in Brantford. Other municipalities soon joined the partnership.

"During the Depression, the federal and provincial governments were more interested in helping people by providing government relief. But the tide was turning: governments were thinking about large-scale public works projects that would provide jobs and help the economy. The federal government’s National Employment Commission supported a proposal for a dam across the Grand River. By April 1938, the province and federal government had each agreed to contribute 37.5 per cent of the project. This left the municipalities to cover the remaining 25 per cent, an amount they could manage. This was divided among the municipalities differently based on tax assessment and benefits such as water supply, flood protection and sewage disposal. A second Grand River Conservation Commission Act was passed by the province in 1938 to broaden the commission’s responsibilities so it could manage the construction projects."

In 1942 the Commission completed the Shand Dam near Fergus, the first dam in Canada built for flood control, water supply and water quality purposes. This was followed by the Luther Marsh Dam in 1954 and the Conestogo Dam in 1958. The Commission also planted more than two million trees on their land and undertook some of the province's first large scale reforestation projects.

The success of the Commission, its watershed scope and municipal partnership model led to the Guelph Conference on Conservation in 1941, and the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario in 1946. This new act led to the creation of 36 conservation authorities across the province. In fact, the commission supported the creation of the Grand Valley Conservation Authority in 1948 and the two organizations — the GVCA and GRCC had the same chair, William Philip of Galt. They amalgamated in 1966 to form the present day Grand River Conservation Authority and are the two founding organizations of the Grand River Conservation Authority.

Photographs are stamped Please Credit Canpubco.

Greb Industries Limited was a shoe and boot manufacturing company based in Kitchener, Ontario. Charles E. Greb, who had moved to Berlin (now Kitchener) from Zurich, Ontario, in 1909, became the secretary-treasurer of the Berlin Shoe Manufacturing Company when it was incorporated in 1910. His son Erwin Greb joined the company as book-keeper. In 1912, Charles and Erwin acquired the company, and in 1916 it received a new charter of incorporation under the name Greb Shoe Company Limited, with Charles as president and Erwin as secretary-treasurer. In 1918, Erwin bought the controlling interest in the company from his father, who remained involved with the business in an advisory capacity.

The Greb Shoe Company, which had plants on Queen Street and at the corner of Mansion and Chestnut Streets in Kitchener, was again reorganized and received a new charter in 1930. In 1938, it acquired Valentine and Martin Limited, a Waterloo manufacturer of work boots, shoes, and dress shoes, which continued to operate as a separate business until it was merged with the Greb Shoe Company in 1951. Operations by that time were consolidated at a plant on Breithaupt Street in Kitchener. When Erwin Greb died in 1954, his son Harry D. Greb took over as company president. Erwin’s other sons were also involved in the company as directors; Arthur was in senior management and Charles was a plant manager and eventually became executive vice-president (1969-1976).

In 1959, the company purchased the Canada West Shoe Manufacturing Company of Winnipeg, including its popular Kodiak brand boots. The expansion into Western Canada began a period of tremendous growth for the company. Manufacturing facilities were expanded, and the company made several other acquisitions, including Bauer Canadian Skate; Tebbutt Shoe and Leather Company of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec; and Collins Safety Shoes of Peterborough. A skate and boot plant was eventually opened in Bangor, Maine. The most significant factor in the company’s growth through the 1960s was the popularity of Hush Puppies brand of casual shoes, which Greb began manufacturing under license from Wolverine World Wide of Rockford, Michigan, in the early 1960s. The mascot for this line of footwear, a basset hound named Velvet, was a popular symbol for the brand. In 1966, Greb Industries Limited became a publicly-traded company, and by the early 1970s it had grown to become Canada’s largest footwear manufacturer, employing 1200 people in Kitchener and another 1100 in Winnipeg, Trois-Rivieres, and Bangor. In 1974, the company was purchased by Warrington Products Limited of Mississauga.

Greb Industries Limited continued to manufacture footwear under the new owners, with several changes in operations, including the closure of several plants and a move for the head office from its Ardelt Avenue location in Kitchener to Mississauga. In 1987, Warrington sold the Greb division, which consisted mainly of Hush Puppies and Kodiak shoes and boots, to Taurus Footwear of Montreal. Production of Hush Puppies ended in 1989 when the licence was surrendered to Wolverine. The Bauer skate division, operating as Canstar Sports, had been relocated to Cambridge and sold to Nike. The last Greb plant in Kitchener, a Kodiak boot plant on Hayward Avenue, closed in 1991. In 1992, the Royal Bank took control of Taurus Footwear and formed Greb International to market the Kodiak brand domestically and internationally. In 2000 this company became Kodiak Group Holdings Inc., and in 2005, it purchased Terra Footwear in Newfoundland and has factories in Markdale, Ontario; Harbour Grace, Newfoundland; and in Asia.

Charles E. Greb was a businessman and philanthropist living near Ayr, Ontario. Born in Kitchener, Greb was the youngest child of Erwin C. (1894-1954) and Clara Greb. His father and grandfather, Charles E. Greb Sr., acquired the Berlin Shoe Manufacturing Company in 1912, and in 1916 the company received a new charter and was renamed the Greb Shoe Company Limited. By the time it was sold in 1974, Greb Industries Limited had become the largest shoe manufacturer in Canada. Charles Greb began his career with the family company in 1948 as a factory worker, and went on to manage plants in Kitchener and Winnipeg. He became director of sales in 1962, and then from 1969 to 1976 he served as executive vice-president. Greb later became the CEO of Musitron Communications, which became part of Grebco Holdings Ltd., a personal investment firm. He was also director and chairman of Skyjack Inc. of Guelph, director and chairman of Virtek Vision International Inc. of Waterloo, and managing partner of Woodside Fund, a California venture capital partnership.
Greb was involved in several community organizations and initiatives, including: the National Council of YMCAs of Canada, the YMCA of Kitchener-Waterloo, the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital Foundation, the Kitchener Chamber of Commerce, the Ontario Summer Games, Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest, Junior Achievement of Waterloo Region, Junior Achievement of Canada, and CAA Ontario. He was a member of the Board of Governors of St. Paul's College (University of Waterloo) and the Board of Regents of Luther College (University of Regina), and chairman of the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Board of Management and of the Kitchener Economic Development Board. He also received many awards, including the Kitchener Citizen of the Year (1978), a Province of Ontario Bicentennial Medal, an Ontario Volunteer Service gold award, a Canada 125th Anniversary medal for contributions to Canada, a Companion of the Fellowship of Honour YMCA Canada, the Lou Buckley Award - Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA, and the Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International.
Charles Greb’s brothers were also involved in Greb Industries Limited. Harry D. Greb (1916-1998) joined the company as a book-keeper in 1932. Upon the death of his father in 1954, he became company president and held that position until he retired in 1974. Harry Greb was president of the Shoe Manufacturers Association of Canada, the Shoe Information Bureau, and the Shoe and Leather Council of Canada. He was also a director of the Equitable Life Insurance Company and chairman of the board of Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University), as well as a member of several organizations, including: Waterloo County Shrine Club, Kitchener Rotary Club, and Grand River and Scottish Rite Masonic Lodges. In 1971, he was honoured with an LLD degree. Harry was also an avid sailor.
Arthur C. Greb (1917-1982) joined the family company in 1935 and managed the company’s entrance into the retail business with a chain of stores called “Yellow Label” based in Vancouver. This venture was short-lived and Arthur returned to Kitchener to manage the purchasing department at the Greb Shoe Company. He retired in 1974.
Clara May Greb (1921-2006), sister to Harry, Arthur, and Charles, was a philanthropist and involved in the Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA, Junior Achievement of Waterloo Region, and the endowment foundations of both of these organizations.
Charles E. Greb, Sr. (1859-1934) was a politician and businessman in Berlin/Kitchener. Born in Zurich, Ontario, he was a carpenter by trade and operated a hardware store and hotel in Zurich before moving to Berlin in 1909 with his wife Caroline and son Erwin. He was involved with the Berlin Shoe Manufacturing Company from its incorporation in 1910 as Secretary-Treasurer. When Erwin purchased the controlling interest in the Greb Shoe Company from his father in 1918, Charles remained involved with the business in an advisory capacity, and devoted more time to politics. He served as an alderman in Kitchener from 1917 to 1921, 1924 to 1927, and 1929 to 1931; and as Mayor for two terms, from 1921 to 1922.
(Source: content of the fonds; Briggs, T. and Greb, C.E., The Greb Story, Kitchener: Grebco Holdings Ltd., 2008; and Waterloo County Hall of Fame biographies: http://tinyurl.com/nsotv4)

Maurice Green joined the University of Waterloo in 1969 as the first official photographer. During his time with the University, he served as the head of the central photographic unit and also lectured in the Department of Fine Arts. Green retired in 1990.

Methodist missionary on the Nass in British Columbia between 1876 and 1889.

1942: Grissol founded in the Rosemont area of Montreal, Quebec by Pedro Pedralli, an Italian immigrant. In the early 1950s, the Rosemont bakery was purchased by a Mr. Chouinard.

1961: Loney's Foods, owned by entrepreneur Yves Hudon, acquired Grissol. The name of the combined entitty was changed to Les Aliments Grissol Limitée / Grissol Foods Limited and all production was brought to a common location in the Ville Lasalle area of south Montreal, Quebec.

1961: Grissol buys a cookie plant in Ste-Martine, Quebec, 30 km south of Montreal, Quebec. The plant is expanded and state-of-the-art Melba toast making technology installed.

1960s: Production at the Loney's Foods Ville LaSalle facilities was expanded to include soup, pretzels, croutons, "bric-à-brac" and breadcrumbs while Melba toast was bread sticks were produced at the Sainte-Martine plant.

1969: Grissol acquired Biscuits Viau and moved the head office of Grissol Foods to Viau's offices on Ontario Street, Montreal, Quebec.

1972: Grissol including Viau and Loney's was acquired by Imasco Foods Limited, the food arm of Imperial Tobacco company.

1975: When the Ste-Martine plant ran out of space, some production of bread and Melba toast was taken to unused space in the Viau plant.

1980: After a factory fire destroyed a large part of the Grissol operations in Ste-Martine, Grissol employees rallied round and managed to rebuild the facilities. This rebuilding allowed all Grissol products to be made under the same roof in the present Ste-Martine plant.

1983: Imasco Foods Limited, including Grissol, was acquired by Culinar Inc. of Montreal, Quebec.

1999: Montreal cheese company Saputo Inc. buys Culinar, made up of the Vachon snack cakes businesses and the CFS (Cookies, Fine Breads and Soups) Division.

Founded by Walter M. Jackson (1863-1923) around 1909. Grolier was purchased by Scholastic in 2000.