Benjamin Tyler Coon, 62-year old general manager of
Lethbridge Collieries Ltd. since 1938, died in
Lethbridge on 20
September 1943.
His passing removed one of the best-known officials in
western coal-mining circles, a field in which he was involved
for 40 years. He came to Lethbridge from Calgary to succeed
Robert Livingstone, first general manager of Lethbridge
Collieries Ltd. In Calgary, Ben Coon had held executive
positions with the company and had been in charge of coal sales
for the Lethbridge mines.
He played a leading part in the nation's coal mining circles,
particularly as a result of the war. He was called to Ottawa
often to attend conferences, to help formulate coal mining
regulations, and to advise those responsible for such agencies
as the Emergency Coal Products Board.
He was a member of Rotary and active in other aspects of
civic affairs. His funeral was widely attended by directors of
Lethbridge Collieries: S. G. Porter, R. A. Lovett, C. S.
Donaldson, and T. H. Lancaster. The general office staff of
Lethbridge Collieries, Galt No. 8 Mine, and the Standard Mine,
Shaughnessy, attended in a body. The CPR Natural Resources
Division was represented, as was the Lands Department. Osier,
Hammond & Nanton of Winnipeg and Calgary, the Pacific Grain
Company, United Grain Growers all sent representatives.
Pallbearers were John Marshall Davidson, Dr. M.J. Gibson, A.
Gladstone Virtue, E. C. M. Davis, M. B. Wilkinson and George
Cox.
This article is extracted from Alex Johnston, Keith G.
Gladwyn and L. Gregory Ellis. Lethbridge: Its Coal Industry
(Lethbridge, Lethbridge: City of Lethbridge, 1989), Occasional
Paper No. 20, The Lethbridge Historical Society. The
Heritage Community Foundation and the Year of the Coal Miner
Consortium (of which the City of Lethbridge is the lead partner)
would like to thank the authors for permission to reprint this
material.
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