141 The Royal Canadian Legion www.mbnwo.legion.ca McGREGOR, Wilfred John WWI Wilfred was born to Peter and Eleanor McGregor in Portage la Prairie on December 1, 1894. Brought up and educated in and around Gladstone, he graduated from high school and taught for a short period at Airedale School. In World War I, he served as a munitions lorry driver in France, and during this time, he contracted pneumonia. Here is a letter received by Eleanor McGregor from the army hospital. No. 7 Canadian General Hospital France. Oct 25, 1918 Dear Mrs. McGregor Your son W.J. (2115343) is a patient in our hospital with an attack of bronchial pneumonia and is quite ill. He is doing as well as expected but we hope he may soon begin to improve. He is in a comfortable bed with white sheets and pillows and is being cared for by kind and well-trained Canadian nurses. Miss Fahrni, whose people live in Gladstone, is a nurse at our hospital and called to see your son. I was at Gladstone myself once and taught at the Bear Creek School during the summer of 1914. If you see Mr. Dan McClennan or his wife, please remember me to them, as I boarded with them. W.J.D. Magwood Captain and Chaplain Wilfred returned to Gladstone in 1919 and assisted his sister Margaret in the rural municipal office and succeeded her as secretary-treasurer of the R.M. of Westbourne in 1923. He married Greta Havilland in 1927. She died during the birth of their only child, Shirley, in 1929. In 1931, he married Florence Miller of Isabella, Manitoba. They built a house on the Crescent of Gladstone. In 1936, he contracted tuberculosis and was forced to give up his job at the municipal office. After two years of treatment, he took over the Chev-Olds dealership in Gladstone and built up a trucking business in grain and gravel. He started a movie theatre on the west side of Oliver’s Store on Dennis St. and called it Revilo (Oliver spelled backwards). Florence and Wilfred had a daughter, Marie, born in 1942. The theatre operated in this location until the Audio Theatre was built on Morris Avenue in 1946. Wilfred and Florence owned and operated the theatre until Wilfred’s retirement in 1969. As well as the theatre, Wilfred worked as the Gladstone representative to White’s Funeral Home in Neepawa and also as an insurance agent for various insurance companies in Winnipeg. They sold the theatre to Percy and Florence Pearce in 1969 when Wilfred was 75. Wilfred was an excellent speaker and liked to do readings and monologues. He was involved actively with the local Red Cross, the United Church, the Legion, the elks, and above all, the Free Masons (five McGregors have served as District Deputy Grand Masters in Manitoba). Provincially, he was Grand Master of Manitoba in 1965, and three times Master of the Cryptic Rites along with several other lodges. Wilfred and Florence liked to travel, and each year presented The Age Press with an account of their travels. They had two trips to Europe, and one to New Zealand in the company of a Scottish cousin to visit relatives descended from a brother of Peter St. Clair McGregor (Wilfred’s father) and a brother of Alexander McGregor (Wilfred’s grandfather). Every summer resulted in a three-week road trip to various parts of Canada and the United States until they finally decided to spend the winters in Weslaco, Texas at Pine to Palm Park. They did this for twenty years until Wilfred’s death in Texas in 1985 at the age of ninety. His ashes were returned from Texas to the family plot in the Gladstone Cemetery along with sister Bessie and Jim McLeod and sister Margaret and Jack Wakefield. His first wife, Greta Havilland, is also buried there. Florence worked as a cashier at the theatre for many years and was actively involved in local church groups and the Eastern Star. She loved to play bridge and belonged to several local clubs. In 1964, she suffered a stroke which left her paralyzed on one side and curtailed her activities somewhat. Before that, she was an avid curler, golfer, and tennis player. Florence continued to spend her winters in Texas and summers in Gladstone until a broken hip in 1996 forced her into Winnipeg for treatment and she remained in Winnipeg at Riverview Health Centre until her death in August 1999 at the age of 92.
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