The Royal Canadian Legion Saskatchewan Command LEST WE FORGET 111 to Yorkton. He donated the casket to the Branch and from June 6, 1949 to present, the Branch uses this casket at their ceremonies on D Day. In August 1935, the Legion purchased a hall on 1st Ave N. from the Orange Lodge #1618. It was noted that this hall had the finest dance floor in the district and to raise much need funds, the Branch held dances every Saturday night. In 1954, a motion was approved to build a new hall on West Broadway, but this did not happen until 1961. In 1959, a motion was passed to rename the new building "The General Alexander Ross Sask. No. 77." In October of the same year, Dominion President Burgess presented the new charter. Branch 77 is very community-minded. From the youth in Scouts, Cadets Corps, Track and Field, Minor Team sports, Bursaries, grants, and donations to the many worthwhile causes, including $25,000.00 in the last five years to the Sun Raise Health Foundation. ARTICLE FROM THE NEWSPAPER IN YORKTON: Brig.-Gen. Alexander Ross, 92, a founder of the Royal Canadian Legion who had risen from the rank of major to brigadiergeneral during the course of the First World War, died early today in Yorkton hospital. Funeral arrangements had not been completed, but it was expected a military funeral would be held. Born in northern Scotland, he came to Canada at the age of six with his parents. After completing his senior matriculation, he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1901. He then took up the practice in Regina. Prior to the First World War, he was second-in-command of the 95th Battalion. He went overseas in the spring of 1915 as a major with the 28th Battalion, which absorbed the 95th in 1914. He became a colonel in September 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, and on October 10, 1918, he became a brigadier-general. He commanded the Sixth Brigade at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. On his return to Canada, he was given command of Military District No. 12 in 1921. When the Second World War broke out, he offered his services and throughout the war was president of the Canadian Legion War Services. In 1944, he was appointed director of civil defense following the death of Hon. H. J. Minion. Gen. Ross was one of the founders of the Royal Canadian Legion, and in March 1934, he was honored by that body when he was chosen Dominion President. He continued in office for three years. During that time, he visited Australia and was associated with King Edward VIII in the unveiling of the Canadian Memorial at Vimy. He served as Provincial President for five years and as President of the Yorkton Branch, which bears his name, for five years. Gen. Ross was also honorary colonel of the Regina Rifles, and Honorary President of the provincial command and of the Yorkton Branch. He was made an Honorary Life Member of the Yorkton Branch in 1970. Gen. Ross was an able and learned judge and served as district court judge at Yorkton from his appointment in 1921 until his retirement in 1965. He was honoured by the University of Saskatchewan in 1955, when the university conferred the degree of doctor of laws on him at the May convocation for "a lifetime of useful and unselfish service in many fields as a gallant soldier, an able and learned judge and a great leader in the Canadian Legion." His talents were not confined to the military and the law. He had a deep and abiding interest in his church. He was a guiding light in the planning of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church and church hall and was rector’s warden in the church for 40 years. In 1949, he was appointed chancellor of the Diocese of Qu' Appelle, and after 10 years of service in this capacity in June 1953, he was bestowed the degree of Doctor of Canon Law by the church, an honor never before bestowed on any layman. Gen. Ross served as President of the Yorkton Branch of the Canadian Red Cross for a number of years, and was one of two Honourary Life Members of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce. Gen. Ross had lived in York-ton since 1921 and had taken an active interest in many community activities. On the anniversaries of his 80th and 90th birthdays, celebrations were held in Yorkton honoring his work in the community and for Canada. On the occasion of his 90th birthday, Lawrence Clements, who was associated with Gen. Ross for 21 years in the administration of the affairs of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, paid tribute to the general for his 40 years as chancellor of the Diocese of Qu'AppelIe and for his efforts in rewriting the canon law of the diocese. At that time, W. H. Morrison, representing the Yorkton-Melville-Wynyard Bar Association, said Gen. Ross was a most distinguished jurist, whose name rank with the distinguished names of other jurists in the province. GENERAL ALEXANDER ROSS BRANCH 77, YORKTON (...Cont’d)
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