Ernest Edward Poole

One of the more famous Stoughton Pioneers

Founder of what became “PCL Construction Ltd.”

Ernest Edward Poole
b- Oct 18, 1883, Woodville Mills, Kings, PEI
d- Mar 12, 1964 in Edmonton AB, age 80
Funeral at Robertson United Church, in Edmonton,
Ernest was cremated.
married in 1913 in PEI,
wife- Gertrude Inez Annear
b- Apr 22, 1887, in PEI
d- Mar 23, 1987
she was from Lower Montague, PEI.
both were Presbyterians.

Gertrude was the daughter of John A. Annear
(also seen a. John Annear)
b- ca 1945/46 in PEI
Methodist, Kings, PEI
and Hannah B. Annear, nee Poole.

Ernest E. Poole was the son of John T. Poole
b- 1851 in PEI
d- 1922
mother- Jean Poole, nee Shaw, married in 1880
b- May 24, 1850
d- aft 1924
daughter of Donald and Mary Shaw.

John T. Poole owned a flour mill, 2 sawmills, and a lumber mill.
His Great-Grandfather John Poole, settled in PEI in 1808.
Ernest was educated in PEI, attending Business College in Charlottetown.
Ernest then studied Architecture, and Reinforced Concrete Engineering.
He was Associate Member of the Engineering Institute of Canada
Member of the Masons, belonging to the Blue Lodge, the Royal Arch Chapter, the Knights Templar Commandery, and was a Noble of the Mystic Shrine in Regina.
He was a member of the Rotary Club in Regina.
Member of the Alberta Provincial Council of the Boy Scouts, and donated 160 acres of wooded land on the north shore of Lake Wabumum, to the Regional Boy Scout Council.
Later added 10 acres to give them Highway access.
1962 he sold the Scouts his 32 acre beachfront property for $25,000, then knocked off $5,000 as a gift.

Operated one of his father's mills, before coming to Saskatchewan in 1904, (per one source),
locating at Stoughton, where he worked as a construction foreman, for the Lannon Brothers, and Martin Co.
He started his own contracting work about 2 years later.

another source, which I think is correct,
says Ernest E. Poole came to Western Canada as a Carpenter, first in 1903, to Melita MB. Moved in 1904 to Stoughton SK.
Worked as a Carpenter in the summer, and ran a hardware store in the winter.
Started business as E. E. Poole General Contractor, in Stoughton SK.
and joined with James Martin, a Saskatchewan contractor, in the spring of 1906 to form Martin & Poole Construction.
Martin retired in 1907, and company continued as Poole Construction.

1910 he moved to Rouleau SK.

When Ernest started he had 3 employees.
specialized in 4 room school houses, Banks, town halls and rinks, in SK and Manitoba.
After their honeymoon, Ernest and his wife took up residence in Moose Jaw,
where the company was incorporated, as Poole Construction Company Ltd.
1915, They moved their home, and Company to Regina,
1932, relocated its Corporate headquarters to Edmonton.
1948 company sold to Ernest's sons, John Edward Poole and George Ernest Poole.
1977, they sold the company to it's employees,
and in 1978 it became PCL Construction Ltd.
1984 it was owned by 329 employees in partnership, with Great West Life Insurance Co..

In 1959 $40,000 worth of Ernest's art collectionm was stolen from the University of BC Art Gallery.
His hobby was collecting art, antique Georgian silver, and firearms.
they lived at 28 Riverside Crescent in Edmonton.

Ernest and Gertrude had 4 children:
John Edward Poole
b- ca 1917
d- Jan 2007, while visiting Calgary, age 90
retired in 1977
married Barbara Poole, nee ?
both well known Edmonton Philanthropists.

Annear Poole
b- ca 1919
married Austin B. Duncan,
living in Vancouver 1964

George Ernest Poole
b- ca 1921
d- 1997 in West Vancouver, age 76
wife- Rae Poole, nee ?
they had 5 children.
known for their Philanthropy in Vancouver area.
George was a Graduate of Civil Engineering, from the University of Alberta, in 1943.

Inez Jean Poole
b- ca 1922-24
Inez married Brenton Glanville Alley
b- Oct 16, 1922 in Winnipeg MB
d- Mar 31, 2008, in Hospice, Sannich Peninsula Hospital, Sidney BC
He was the 3rd son of Brenton Pascoe and Norma Lindsey Alley.

There is a $4,000 yearly Scholarship given in Ernest Poole's name, at the Stoughton High School

Ernest E. and Gertrude Annear Poole Memorial Scholarship at University of PEI
John and Barbara Poole donated $50,000 for this.

In 1961 Ernest and Gertrude formed the Poole Foundation.
later changed to Ernest E. Poole Foundation, dissolved Mar 31, 1985.

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