HENRY EDMISON (HARRY) DUCKWORTH

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HENRY EDMISON (HARRY) DUCKWORTH Harry, scientist and University administrator, died on December 18 2008, at the age of 93, after a short illness. Born in Brandon in 1915, the only child of Rev. H. B. Duckworth and Annie Edmison, he grew up in Transcona and St. James, where he was a successful golfer, and played soccer for Winnipeg Scottish Football Club. He attended Wesley College (B.A. 1935; now part of the University of Winnipeg) and the University of Manitoba (B.Sc. 1936). After teaching at Stonewall and United College, he obtained the Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Chicago (1942). Upon graduation, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, but was soon assigned to scientific War research in Ottawa, where he designed a useful radar antenna. He began his career as a professor of physics at the University of Manitoba in 1945, and continued it at Wesleyan University, in Connecticut, and then at McMaster. During this period he became one of Canada's foremost scientists, providing precise experimental measurements of atomic masses, which remain of fundamental value for the study of matter and energy. He also won a reputation as a favourite teacher of physics. For his scientific achievements he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1954, and later served as its President; received many awards; and became an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1965 he returned to Winnipeg as Vice-President (Development), and then Vice-President (Academic) at the University of Manitoba. In 1971 he became second President of the University of Winnipeg, and oversaw a period of rapid development of the University that he greatly enjoyed. Following his retirement in 1981, he continued active in academic and community affairs. In 1986 he was elected Chancellor of the University of Manitoba, and served till 1992. He was predeceased by his first wife, Katherine Jane McPherson, whom he had married in 1942 and who died in 1991. In 1995 he married Shirley Craik, and acquired a second family of daughters and grandchildren. He is survived by wife Shirley; children Harry (Mary Lynn) and Jane (Andrew Maksymiuk); Shirley's daughters Judy (Pat Anglesey), Polly (David Rattray), and Donna (Thor Thorleifson); grandchildren Daniel (Minerva Hernandez Iraheta), Michael, Catherine, Hannah, Jake, Jesse, Claudia, Will, Paul and Olivia; great-granddaughters Catalina and Jane; sister-in-law Mrs. C. E. Mansell, of Calgary; brother-in-law Raymond Hill and wife Muriel, of Glenboro; and sister-in-law Mrs. Jim Hill, of Regina. We will miss him greatly, and we are proud to have known him. A memorial service will be held at St. Andrew's United Church, Oak Street, River Heights, at 1.30 p.m., Saturday, December 27; reception to follow in the church. Thomson Funeral Home, 669 Broadway, in charge of arrangements. If friends so wish, donations in Harry Duckworth's memory may be made to the University of Winnipeg Foundation, or to the Duckworth Fund, University of Manitoba. THOMSON FUNERAL HOME 669 BROADWAY, WINNIPEG, MB R3C OX4 783-7211 Send expressions of sympathy at www.mem.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 22, 2008