Albert Charles Benedict

Born: 3 June 1910 at Calgary, Alberta
Married: 18 April 1935 at Calgary, Alberta to Winnifred Kathleen Webber
Died: 5 July 1983 (age 73) at Calgary, Alberta
Buried: Queen’s Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, plot K:02A:260
Family Tree: Albert Charles Benedict in Family Genes
Contributor: Jim Benedict

Albert’s Parents

• Father: Peter George Benedict
• Mother: Agnes Roe McPhail

The Early Years

Albert was born and raised in Calgary and lived there all his life.  His father, Peter George Benedict, came from Wallaceburg, Ontario and his mother, Agnes Roe McPhail, arrived from Nova Scotia via Frank, Aberta.  The third of eight children, six boys and two girls, Albert was expected to work early and help with the household finances.  As a young boy of 12, he started work as a delivery clerk in order to financially help his family during very difficult times.

Albert at Superior Printing

He went into the trade of job printing – the art of commercial letterheads, business cards and business brochures.  The first job was with Marshall and Dunlevy Printers.  He then worked for Central Press, located on Centre Street and Sixth Avenue South, in what was at one time the Hull Opera House, then converted to commercial use.  In 1946 he purchased the printing plant and ran it successfully for many years.  Later on, he sold that business and started up Superior Printing on the west side of downtown.

Albert learned the trade and was noted as a skilled printing press operator.  He could assemble blocks of printable type, in rows and rows of characters and numbers and symbols, all in mirror-reverse order, grabbed from two wooden shelves, called “cases”, with the cap letters from the “upper case” shelve and the lower letters from the “lower case” shelve.  He also was self-taught in the Linotype machine, a specialized machinery for making up “lines o’ type” of lead,  Winnie was the office bindery girl, bookkeeper and general office manager.

Albert and Winnie

Appreciation to Albert from Orion Club 1934

Albert and Winne Webber met as school chums.  Just turning twenty, Winnie was a year younger, they formed a circle of friends, going to dances.  From that, they decided to form a social club. The Orion Club was born with a membership of over a hundred.  Albert was president and Winnie was Assistant President.  They eventually rented the top floor of the North-West Travellers Building on Sixth Avenue and First Street East, for twenty dollars a month, which included heat, light and elevator service.  Its elevator was out of commission.  We walked up three flights of stairs.  We had our own orchestras, drama club, hockey team.  A lot of lasting friendships were formed, and a great number of marriages resulted.

The Children

Albert and Winnie raised three children, of whom two are still alive.

Final Years for Albert

Albert finally retired from printing, selling his Superior Printing business to another company, which became Apache Superior Printing, which still exists today.  He was tired now, legs cramping up from the long, long hours of standing on a concrete floor, setting type and running the printing presses.  He found enjoyment in going to the Thorncliffe-Greenview Seniors meetings for bridge games and also driving the ladies to and from the meetings.  He succumbed to a massive heart attack in 1983 in Calgary, cremated and buried at Queen’s Park Cemetery.

He and Winnie are survived by three children, six grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.