Obituary of Glen Lawson

Our family regrets to announce the passing of Glen David Lawson of Brandon on September 24, 2024, at the age of 89.

Glen was born in Brandon on June 21, 1935, to David and Susan (nee Hampton) Lawson, and he was the second youngest of their 11 children. As a young man, Glen was an avid hockey player and loved the game. He wasn't a big kid growing up and got the nickname "Termite" at a young age. Hockey would play a huge part in his life in years to come as he played for the Brandon Wheat Kings as an 18-year-old.

By the time Glen was in his early 20's he was coaching as well as playing. He coached two successive Provincial Juvenile Championship teams as a 21- and 22-year-old and the next year he found himself behind the bench as coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings at 23. In a span of 15 years from 1958 to 1973, Glen was involved as Coach, General Manager, and eventually one of the owners of the Wheat Kings. Glen was proud to be the first team Governor when the Wheat Kings joined the Western Canadian Junior Hockey League in 1967. Over the years he would tell us that he "couldn't wait to get to the rink" in those days. He loved it. There were a lot of great hockey players that Glen coached, some who went on to play professional hockey. In those early days as Wheat Kings Coach, Glen also worked for the City of Brandon engineering department.

In 1958, Glen became involved in partial ownership of a chicken and turkey hatchery in Brandon known then as Brandon Hatchery. Glen often mentioned that those early years in the hatchery business were "very lean" and the household relied on Eileen's income from her job in the Radiology department at Brandon General Hospital. His hatchery business partner in those days was Doug Clark, who also had a love of hockey. Glen's interest in the poultry industry continued to grow and in 1970 he purchased Clark's Poultry Farm from Doug Clark, as well as two local egg grading stations and an egg layer farm with 20,000 birds. Glen sold Clark's Poultry to his sons in 1993 and retired from business in 2000 when he sold his egg grading business, Grand Valley Eggs. In 2015, Glen received the Max Wiener award from the Canadian Hatchery Federation (CHF) for his contributions to the industry including countless hours spent serving on the Board of Directors as well as Chairman of the CHF.

Glen and Eileen owned a cottage at Clear Lake for 20 years where many great memories were made. Their cottage made the perfect base for Glen to enjoy his love of golf at the Clear Lake Golf Course where he played in the annual Tamarack Golf tournament for over 30 years and won his flight in the Senior Men's division three times.

Glen's kindness, hard work, dedication and determination touched the lives of hundreds of people during his coaching career as well as his business career. An avid Wheat King fan and season ticket holder for decades, he still had a keen eye for the game of hockey. When attending a game he couldn't take more than four steps during intermission before running into someone he had played with or coached that wanted to shake the hand of "Mr. Lawson."

One of Glen's proudest moments was his induction into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011 in the Builder Category, for his many years of involvement with minor hockey, juvenile and junior hockey in Manitoba. This past March, Glen was honoured to be one of two inaugural inductees into the Wheat Kings Hall of Fame. Everyone in attendance that night will never forget his jokes.

Glen married Eileen Schneider on June 21st, 1958 - his 23rd birthday! In addition to Eileen, Glen leaves behind a family that will miss him dearly. Three children - Brad (Patty), Jeff (Kathy) and Jana (Marty), as well as six grandchildren - Britt Lawson Corbett (Jason), Kirsten Lawson Knoop (Chris), Turner Lawson, Madison Lawson, Cash Zdan and Knox Zdan, as well as four great grandsons - Tucker and Finley Knoop, and Astor and Beau Corbett. Glen was predeceased by his parents and ten siblings - Nora, Adam, Janet, Ken, May, Beatrice, Elizabeth, Violet, Gordon, and Irene.

A Celebration of Glen’s Life will take place at the Victoria Inn (Grand Salon), 3550 Victoria Avenue, Brandon, on Saturday, October 19, 2024 from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Tributes to Glen will begin at 2:15 p.m.

For those wishing, donations in memory of Glen may be made to Hockey Brandon, Unit E-315 College Avenue, Brandon, MB, R7A 1E7.