They cover 42 years of being passionate about making Kelowna a better place to do business, work, live and play.
They are the 15 past-presidents and the current president of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce who attended yesterday’s Kelowna Chamber Past Presidents breakfast at the Hotel Eldorado.
The past-prez in attendance who served the longest ago was Gerry Gee from 1980, thus the 42-year timeline right up to current president Pamela Pearson, who is also the director of operations at Sentes Automotive.
Daniel Sutherland was the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce’s first president, 1906-08, and was mayor of Kelowna for 16 years. This photo of Sutherland, taken in 1907, is courtesy of Kelowna Museums, Kelowna Public Archives KPA#3307.” class=”img-responsive” src=”https://news.google.com/files/files/images/Daniel %20Sutherland(1).jpg” style=”margin: 5px;”/>
The first was Daniel Wilbur Sutherland, 1906-08, who was a city councilor when Kelowna first formed in 1905 and would also go on to be mayor 1907-08, 1910-11 and 1917-29.
He, obviously, wasn’t at the past-presidents breakfast because he died in 1931 at the age of 66.
The first woman president was Marion Bremner in 1985.
Bremner wasn’t at the past-presidents breakfast, but she was at the Kelowna Business Excellence Awards in March, where she was named ‘business leader of the year.’
Here’s the list of everyone that’s served as Kelowna Chamber of Commerce president over the organization’s 116-year history.
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Daniel Wilbur Sutherland – 1906-08
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WA Pitcairn – 1909
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P. Dumoulin – 1910
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JW Jones – 1911
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RB Kerr – 1912
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AW Bowser – 1913
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ST Elliott – 1914
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WG Benson – 1915
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EM Carruthers – 1916
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H. F. Rees – 1917
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W. Haug – 1918
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WA Pitcairn – 1919
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LV Rogers – 1920
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H. F. Rees – 1921
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WE Adams – 1922
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G Stirling – 1923-24
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AG McCosh – 1925
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WR Trench – 1926-27
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N M Foulkes – 1928
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TG Norris – 1929-30
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GA Meikle – 1931-32
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JH Horn – 1933
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JH Horn/D. Chapman-1934
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D. Chapman – 1935
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ST Miller – 1936
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W.A.C. Bennett – 1937-38
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D. C. Paterson – 1939-40
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R. G. Rutherford – 1941-42
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R Whillis – 1943-44
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JD Whitham – 1945
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WTL Roadhouse – 1946
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R. P. MacLean – 1947
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T Greenwood – 1948
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FN Gisborne – 1949
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JI Monteith – 1950
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CG Beeston – 1951
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H.V. Faulkner – 1952
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DG Imrie – 1953
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JK Campbell – 1954
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WB Hughes Games – 1955
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CE Bazett – 1956
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CD Gaddes – 1957
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HS Harrison-Smith – 1958
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AR Pollard – 1959
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L H Leathley – 1960
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R. H. Wilson – 1961
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JB Smith – 1962
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TC McLaughlin – 1963
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R. L. Sharp – 1964
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JC Foote – 1965
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Bill Bennett – 1966
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Ken Harding-1967
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NB Winsby – 1968
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Gordon Hirtle – 1969