William (Bill) Gregor was born on January 1, 1926, to parents who emigrated from Ukraine and settled on a farm north of Roblin, Manitoba. He received his education at the nearby Hillcrest School.
In 1954, Bill married Loreen (nee McKinnon) and together they raised two children — a daughter, Carla, was born in 1956 and a son, Dean, in 1958. Bill and Loreen lived in Brandon until her death in 1982, following which he married Lila (Moore) Rookes. They continue to live in Brandon.
Bill’s working life began in 1944 when he enlisted in the Canadian Infantry. Following the war and leaving with an honourable discharge, Bill trained at Brandon Vocational School as a welder, machinist and tractor mechanic. In 1947, and for the next 22 years, he worked for the Frank Lawson and Sons farm machinery dealership in Brandon as a welder and then later as service manager.
Read Also
Farming still has digital walls to scale
Canadian farms still face the same obstacles to adopting digital agriculture technology, despite the years industry and policy makers have had to break them down.
Lawson and Sons had the franchise for the Firestone Rubber Company, that supplied the tools and technology needed to change tractor steel wheels to rubber. Bill supervised the extra welders hired to make these changes and in his spare time during the winter taught farmers how to weld. While employed by Lawson, he experimented with putting hard surfaces on the points of cultivator shovels, thus extending their use by three times. Manufacturers of shovels picked up on his idea and soon started producing their own hard-surface shovels.
In 1948, Bill began installing the first hydraulic lifts for grain boxes. He also built an iron shear and a 45-tonne press for use in his own shop.
In 1969, Bill joined White Farm Equipment as its territory service manager. Many mechanics and farmers attended his service school seminars and workshops. In 1975, he joined Cancade Manufacturing Ltd., a major manufacturer of truck boxes in Brandon. As Cancade’s plant manager for the next 13 years, Bill designed a no-leak end gate for truck boxes that is still being used today.
Since his retirement in 1988, Bill has been helping people restore old machinery, inventing labour-saving equipment and working in his shop at his nephew’s trucking firm, Ballingall Bros.
Throughout his working life, Bill’s passion and talents for innovative mechanics were used in the service of others, particularly the surrounding farming community.
Nominated by Carla Gregor – 2015
