Fonds glen-3008 - Thomlinson family fonds

Robert Graeme Thomlinson, 1913- , was born in Kenton, Manitoba and came with his parents, Earle Gordon Thomlinson and Clara Langton Thomlinson, to the Spirit River area of Alberta in 1929. They homesteaded on 17-79-8-W6. In 1939 the Thomlinsons started what was to become a successful seed operation on their farm. Graeme won many awards for his pedigreed seed. Both Earle and Graeme were active in the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), later renamed the New Democratic Party (NDP). They were instrumental in the establishment of the party's Spirit River Provincial Constituency Association, and the Peace River Federal Constituency Association. Graeme ran, unsuccessfully, as a CCF candidate in the 1952 and 1955 provincial elections. He later was named a life member of the Alberta NDP. In 1947 Graeme married Marion Ford Sandilands Graham, 1911-?, and they had two sons, Brian James, 1951- , and Neil Robert, 1955- . The Thomlinsons helped found and were active in their local church, Munro Presbyterian Church. Graeme also served as treasurer of the Peace River Presbytery, and Marion as secretary of the Peace River Presbyterial Women's Missionary Society. In the 1960s he helped form the West End Ratepayers' Association, which was involved in lobbying for schools and highways. Graeme was a shareholder in the Blueberry Mountain Forest Products Co-op, which ran a community sawmill.