Released on November 3, 1995
Lt.-Gov. Jack Wiebe will invest six citizens with the province's
highest distinction, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, in a ceremony at
the Delta Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon on the evening of Nov. 6.
The 1995 recipients of the order are: Dr. Lloyd Barber of Regina Beach,
former president of the University of Regina; Dr. Elisabeth Brandt of
Regina, speech pathologist and expert in child communication disorders;
Father Bob Ogle of Saskatoon, Roman Catholic priest, broadcaster and
former member of parliament; Victor Pearsall of Cochin, former bush
pilot and entrepreneur in northern Saskatchewan; Theresa Stevenson of
Cowessess reserve, Broadview, community volunteer and founder of Chili
for Children in Regina; and Ted Turner of Regina, former president of
the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and former chancellor of the University of
Saskatchewan.
Following the ceremony Premier Roy Romanow will host a dinner in honour
of the recipients.
The Saskatchewan Order of Merit recognizes individual excellence and
outstanding contributions to the social, economic and cultural
well-being of the province and its residents. In total, 63 citizens
have been named to the order since its inception in 1985.
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For more information contact:
Michael Jackson
Secretary, Saskatchewan Order of Merit
Regina Phone: (306) 787-3109 .....2
Saskatchewan Order of Merit
BIOGRAPHIES OF 1995 RECIPIENTS
Dr. Lloyd Barber, C.C.
Born in Regina in 1932, Lloyd Barber has made a remarkable contribution to the social, economic
and cultural life of Canada, Saskatchewan and the Aboriginal peoples of our country. He was
educated at the Universities of Saskatchewan, California (Berkeley) and Washington, where he
received a doctorate in business administration. Dr. Barber taught commerce at the University of
Saskatchewan between 1955 and 1976, serving terms as dean of commerce and as vice-president.
In 1964-65 he was a member of the Saskatchewan Royal Commission on Government
Administration. From 1967 to 1970 he was a member of the Northwest Territories Council and
from 1969 to 1977 he was Indian Claims Commissioner for Canada. In 1976 he was appointed
president of the University of Regina, a position he held until retirement in 1990. He was chair of
the Saskatchewan Order of Merit Advisory Council from 1990 to 1993.
Lloyd Barber is noted for his commitment to First Nations peoples, demonstrated not only through
his work as Indian Claims Commissioner, but through his establishment of the first Indian Federated
College at the University of Regina and negotiator for treaty land entitlement in Saskatchewan on
behalf of 27 Indian bands. He was made an honorary Saskatchewan Indian chief in 1980 and
received the Aboriginal Order of Canada in 1985. Due to his economic and financial knowledge he
has been much in demand as an adviser to governments and board member of national
corporations. Dr. Barber was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1978, received the
Vanier Medal from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada in 1979, and was promoted to
Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 1993.
Dr. Elisabeth Brandt
Born in Austria in 1922, Elisabeth Brandt emigrated to the United States in 1951 and received her
post-secondary education there, completing a doctorate in communications methodology and
speech pathology at the University of Denver. She moved to Regina with her husband, a professor
of psychology, in 1968. Dr. Brandt is a speech language pathologist and expert in communications
disorders, particularly for pre-school children. She has taught communications at the University of
Regina, has lectured in Europe and published widely in her field.
Dr. Brandt is best known for her role in the design and establishment of SCEP Centre in Regina, a
remedial, therapeutic program for difficult children and their parents, considered to be far in
advance of its time. Starting in 1968 she served as the first director of the centre, then as
consultant and board member, pioneering a unique and holistic way of dealing with the
communication problems of young children. Dr. Brandt has assisted numerous families with
atypical pre-school children. Her influence has extended far beyond the program through the large
number of students in medicine, social work, nursing, psychology and education who have taken
training at SCEP Centre. Dr. Brandt has accomplished her goals despite being seriously disabled by
polio and post-polio syndrome. She was named YMCA Woman of Year in 1981 and in 1994
received a Woman of Distinction Award from the Saskatchewan branch of Soroptimist
International.
The Reverend Robert Ogle, O.C.
Robert Ogle is a Roman Catholic priest, broadcaster and former Member of Parliament who has an
international reputation for his social conscience and commitment to peace, justice and the
alleviation of poverty. Born in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, in 1928, Bob Ogle entered seminary in
1946 and was ordained priest in 1953. Within a few years of ordination Father Ogle earned a
doctorate of canon law from the University of Ottawa and went on to found the Catholic Centre, an
adult education institution, and to be the first rector of St. Pius X seminary in Saskatoon. He
became a missionary to Brazil for six years and then served a large parish in Saskatoon. In 1979
he was elected to the House of Commons and served until 1984 as a New Democratic M.P.,
respected by members of all parties for his role as a voice of conscience and for his work on behalf
of the Third World and north-south understanding.
Father Ogle has struggled with cancer since 1984. Despite this handicap he has initiated a number
of activities, including Broadcasting for International Understanding, an organization which
produces television shows and publications and has published two books, North South Calling
(1987) and A Man of Letters (1990). He has produced a number of television shows dealing with
moral issues and in 1993 filmed a television series, "Ogle and Company", produced at the
University of Saskatchewan. Father Ogle writes a newspaper column and continues to inspire
others through his example of coping with illness. He has received honorary doctorates from three
universities and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1990.
Victor Pearsall
Born in 1915 in Luseland, Saskatchewan, Victor Pearsall has spent a lifetime as an entrepreneur in
rural and northern Saskatchewan. At the age of 15 he became a film projectionist in his father's
movie theatre and for seven years joined him as itinerant film exhibitors, bringing the first talking
films to many Saskatchewan communities. From 1937 to 1947 he operated his own cinema
business, both itinerant and in permanent locations, bringing welcome entertainment to isolated
rural areas of the province. Also at the age of 15, Mr. Pearsall learned to fly and became the
youngest licensed pilot in Canada. For a number of years he was involved in recreational flying and
"barnstorming", until he began a ten-year career as a bush pilot in northern Saskatchewan, hauling
fish and freight based in the Cree Lake area.
Mr. Pearsall operated a number of other business ventures, including a fish filleting and freezing
plant and a fly-in fishing and tourist camp in Cree Lake and a resort in Cochin, which he built up as
a tourist centre and where he lives today. He has earned a reputation across northern
Saskatchewan for his pioneering achievements in aviation, his unique contribution to the
development of the north, and his dedication and generosity to the well-being of other northern
residents. He is Canada's second-oldest licensed pilot and holds a Canadian record of 65 years of
flying. In 1986 the Government of Saskatchewan named Pearsall Lake in his honor.
Theresa Stevenson, C.M.
Born in 1926 on the Cowessess Indian reserve near Broadview, Theresa Stevenson was forced by
poverty at a young age to leave her family and seek employment in Montana. That experience led
her to dedicate her life to helping others in similar situations. Since then Mrs. Stevenson has
become a leader in the effort to improve the life of the Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan. She has
served on community boards, worked as a literacy volunteer, provided support groups and
counselling for Native students, and assisted those seeking low-cost housing.
Theresa Stevenson is best known for her outstanding work in meeting the needs of hungry
children. In 1984 she began a modest program serving chili to street children at the Albert Scott
Community Centre. Her personal crusade developed into a major community social program called
"Chili for Children" which provides up to two hundred young people a day with a hot nutritious
lunch and had a significant impact in alleviating child hunger in the city. Mrs. Stevenson was
named citizen of the year of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations in 1988 and YMCA
Woman of the Year, received the Canada 125 Commemorative Medal in 1992, was included in the
Maclean's Magazine honor roll in 1993, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in
1994. Recently retired, she has returned to live on the Cowessess Reserve.
E.K. (Ted) Turner, C.M.
Edward (Ted) Turner, a noted figure in Canadian agriculture and the co-operative sector, was born
in Maymont, Saskatchewan, in 1927. He graduated in agriculture from the University of
Saskatchewan in 1948, took over the family farm, and became active in the Saskatchewan Wheat
Pool. He was elected to the Pool's board of directors in 1960 and became president in 1969,
serving for 18 years in that capacity until 1987. He was subsequently executive director of Prairie
Pools for two years and has been a president or director of a number of provincial and national
organizations. Mr. Turner was called on numerous times by the Canadian government to advise in
international negotiations and was a frequent delegate to the International Federation of Agricultural
Producers conference. He is credited with a key role in shaping the direction of Canadian and
international agriculture.
Ted Turner has played an active part in community affairs. He has a had a life-long involvement in
the United Church. He chaired the Saskatchewan committee for the Duke of Edinburgh's
Commonwealth Study Conference in 1980, was co-chair of the fund-raising campaign for the
College of Agriculture building at the University of Saskatchewan, has been a member of the senate
and board of governors of the university, served two terms as university chancellor, and is co-chair
of the university's national fund-raising campaign. He received an honorary doctorate of laws from
the University of Saskatchewan in 1989, is an honorary life member of the Canadian and
Saskatchewan Institutes of Agrologists, and has been inducted into the Saskatchewan Co-operative
Order of Merit and the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame. In 1990 Mr. Turner was named a
Member of the Order of Canada.
