- HOLMLUND -Blaine Adrian Holmlund, born S 11, T 27, R 7 W.3, near Strongfield, Saskatchewan, 27 July 1930; died peacefully in Saskatoon 17 June 2006 surrounded by family. Blaine married Patricia Peardon in 1955, and they had four children: James, Kim, Cheryl and Mona. That family was extended by marriage to include Linda, Debbie, Ron and Richard; and grandchildren and their spouses: Russell, Arwen, Laurelin and Byron, Mark, Eric, and Zoe. Blaine's career began at age 12, as a hired farm labourer in the Strongfield area of Saskatchewan. He worked variously at the general store and as a mechanic at the local garage prior to working as a relief station agent and telegraph operator for the CPR. The railway was then considered a good career, but one of his supervisors strongly urged Blaine to consider University an option not expected given his family's financial circumstances. Blaine entered engineering at the U of S and put himself through, earning his B.E. with great distinction in 1955 and his M.Sc. in 1961. Following his graduation in 1955, Blaine worked as a development engineer for Shell; for Atomic Energy of Canada at Chalk River; and as a communications engineer for Sask Power. He then joined the faculty of the U of S as a lecturer in Electrical Engineering. From 1958-1992 he served the University in a variety of capacities: as a professor of electrical engineering; of biomedical engineering; of computational science; of finance and quantitative methods. He established, and served as the first directors of, the Biomedical Engineering Program, the Computational Science Department, the Hospital Systems Study Group, and the University Studies Group. He was named VP (Special Projects) in 1980 and VP (Planning and Development) in 1985. Blaine served as Acting University President in 1989, and prior to his retirement served as Acting President of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College. Blaine was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Saskatchewan in 1998. Following his retirement Blaine volunteered for Saskatoon Habitat for Humanity, work he found enormously rewarding. Blaine was predeceased by his father Gustav, mother Nellie, brothers James and Ken. Survived by brothers Myron and Glenn, sisters Lorraine and Sylvia, and their extended families. A celebration of Blaine's life will be held at St. Martin's United Church, 2617 Clarence Avenue, Saskatoon on Saturday 24 June at 4:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers friends so wishing may make contributions to the St. Martin's United Church Women or to charities of their choice.
Published in The The Star Phoenix on June 24, 2006
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1930 - 2006 (75 years)
