David Leon Kaplan was born in Chicago on December 12, 1923 and grew up in a musical family. His father, Joshua Samuel played euphonium in a Russian army band and later in Chicago brass bands. His mother, Nettie (née Lurie), born in Lithuania, was a student of the piano. David served with the United States Army Sothern Command Variety Ensemble from 1942 until 1946 under the direction of Major Wayne King, known as the “Waltz King of America”. Kaplan credited his wartime service for exposing him to new musicians and new musical styles, including jazz. Over the next number of years he earned a series of degrees - Bachelor of Music from Roosevelt University (1948), Master of Music from Oberlin College (1950) and a PhD in Music from the University of Indiana (1978). He taught music in Chicago, rural Illinois and West Texas State University before moving to Saskatoon in 1960 and a two-year term position at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Education. He remained at the U of S for the rest of his career and served as Department of Music head from 1966 to 1982, introducing several new programs. He taught courses in music history, theory and world music until his retirement in 1991. In addition to his academic career, Dr. Kaplan was very active in the music and social life of his newly adopted community. He conducted the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra (SSO) from 1963 to 1969 and again from 1970 to 1971. He also composed music for plays and musical productions, adjudicated at music festivals, gave public lectures and wrote about the clarinet and music education. A number of organizations benefited from Dr. Kaplan’s involvement, including the Canadian Music Council, the Canadian Music Centre, the Saskatchewan Arts Board, the Nutana Rotary Club and the Saskatoon Multicultural Council. He was founding chair of the Saskatchewan Music Council in 1967. He co-founded the Saskatoon Festival of Faith bringing together people of different faiths, including aboriginals, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and others, to express their spiritual traditions through speech, music and dance. He was the festival’s music director from 1985 to 1989 and wrote five choral works on multicultural themes. An impromptu jam session at a bar mitzvah at the Congregation Agudas Israel synagogue led Kaplan to found Zmarim: the Saskatoon Klezmer Band. He went on to write more than 200 arrangements for the ensemble. The inaugural Saskatoon Klezmer Music Festival was held in November, 2007. He was also an avid collector of musical instruments and donated his personal collection of almost 200 instruments to the University of Saskatchewan in early 2013. Kaplan received numerous honours, including the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and induction into the Order of Canada. In 2009, he was named ambassador of the Canadian Music Centre in recognition of his life’s work. Kaplan Green, in Arbor Creek, a residential neighbourhood in northeast Saskatoon, was named in his honour. He died in Saskatoon on April 6, 2015.

David Thauberger was born in Holdfast. He studied ceramics at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, where ceramic sculptor David Gilhooly served as an early mentor, inspiring Thauberger and others to create art that was rooted in their own life experience and their own geographical region. He earned his BFA in 1971 and his MA in 1972 from California State University (Sacramento). He then studied with Rudy Autio at the University of Montana in Missoula, earning his MFA in 1973.
David Thauberger is known for his paintings of the vernacular architecture and cultural icons of Saskatchewan. Thauberger's achievements were recognized when he was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. He was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2008, is a recipient of the Queen's Diamond Medal in 2012, the Lieutenant Governor's Saskatchewan Artist Award in 2009 and is member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. When named as a Member of the Order of Canada, he was cited for his contributions to "the promotion and preservation of Canadian heritage and folk art in the province of Saskatchewan, in addition to his work as a painter, sculptor and educator."
Thauberger has become known as an iconoclastic artist, creating colourful portraits of vernacular prairie buildings, legion halls, quonset huts, false fronted shops and inner-city bungalows.

Donna Rosalie Bronson grew up in Craik, Saskatchewan, and attended the University of Saskatchewan. She graduated with a BA in 1930.

Grant Wood worked for many years in Agricultural Extension at the University of Saskatchewan, and upon the closure of that Department became an Assistant Professor in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources in the Department of Plant Sciences. He received his BSA from the University of Saskatchewan and his M.Sc. through Agricultural Extension, also at the U of S. Wood has been a driving force behind the University’s rooftop gardens and other urban agricultural initiatives, and specializes in teaching urban agriculture, a course he developed to help students understand why we should be growing more food locally. He has acted as faculty advisor to the U of S horticulture club, and is also involved in various food-growing initiatives off-campus, frequently working with new Canadians, and sharing his love of urban farming.

Henry T. Abley, also often known as Harry, was an organist, choirmaster and composer, born in 1917 in Knighton, Wales. He studied at Trinity College of Music, London. He had fellowships at that college, and the London College of Music, and was an Associate of the Royal College of Organists.

He immigrated to Canada in the late 50s and worked as the organist at St. Luke’s Cathedral in Sault Ste Marie, ON from 1957-1959. From 1961-1967 he worked as the organist at First Baptist Church in Lethbridge, Alberta. Subsequently he worked as an organist and choirmaster at St. John’s Cathedral in Saskatoon, SK from 1968-1977, then at Third Avenue United Church also in Saskatoon, SK from 1979-1985. His last engagement as organist and choirmaster was at Church of the Advent in Montreal from 1985 until his death in 1994.

He was a recitalist known especially in Germany during the 70s and 80s, where he performed frequently in East and West Berlin, Bremen, Norden; as well as Geneva, Switzerland and Oxford and Cambridge, England. He excelled in music of the German School, but was also a fine exponent of Franck, Liszt, and 20th-century composers Olivier Messiaen and Jéhan Alain. Abley was also a composer of mainly sacred works, and his large output occasioned a 1981 concert in Saskatoon composed entirely of his music.

Edward McCheane was a Saskatchewan landscape artist, married to Edith Hinde. He immigrated to Canada from Birmingham in 1904, homesteading near Borden Saskatchewan. He later became a designer for Bulman Brothers of Winnipeg, and then for Bailey, Banks, and Biddle of Philadelphia. Family lore has it that during this time, Edward designed the sailor logo for Player’s cigarettes, and sold the design for $50. Edward McCheane returned to Saskatchewan to establish Globe Signs in Saskatoon.

Elsie (Hinde) Ingram was born in 1903 to Joseph and Martha Hinde. She married Wesley Reginald Ingram, a Railway worker and ranch hand in 1951. Together they managed the Valley Springs Ranch outside of Borden, Saskatchewan. The ranch was later purchased by David Horn, the donor, who was raised on the ranch from the age of twelve.

Jim Westcott was an undergraduate student in psychology at the University of Saskatchewan when he met Robert Hurley in 1949. It was the beginning of a friendship which continued until Hurley’s death in 1980. Wescott moved to Montreal where he earned an MA in psychology; and after briefly beginning studies for his PhD, switched disciplines and earned an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania. He worked in human relations throughout his career, eventually settling in Toronto. There, Westcott became active in promoting and selling Hurley’s artwork and came to own many pieces himself. He described himself as “an art collector, go between and the keeper of the Hurley Archives” (Novum in Libris, University of Saskatchewan Library, Spring 2009).

Doreen Ratcliffe was born in Regina on 17 July 1927. She earned a BA from the University of Saskatchewan, and worked as an executive secretary and advertising copywriter in Vancouver and Regina prior to meeting John McConnell, whom she married in 1957. They had three children; all of whom graduated from the University of Saskatchewan. In addition to raising her family, Doreen was active as pianist for her church, with the CGIT, and with the Canadian Institute of International Affairs and the World Food Program. John and Doreen shared interests in politics, public affairs and the environment, community and social issues; and both were freelance writers, often collaborating on articles. Doreen McConnell died on 31 July 2007.

Humphrey and the Dumptrucks. Country-folk group, active 1967-81. It was organized in Saskatoon as a jugband by Gary 'Humphrey Dumptruck' Walsh (banjo, dobro), along with Michael 'Bear' Millar (12-string guitar, bass, jug), Michael 'Ernie' Taylor (guitar, autoharp), and Graeme Card (guitar, mandolin). Each member sang. By 1969 a fulltime and professional band, Humphrey and the Dumptrucks performed throughout western Canada in clubs, on the CBC, and at folk and bluegrass festivals (eg, in Regina and Winnipeg), schools (where they gave workshops), and universities. They often appeared in small Saskatchewan communities, and many of their songs reflected rural life. (https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/humphrey-and-the-dumptrucks-emc/)

Mona Holmlund earned her BA at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan; her MA at Reading University, and her PhD from Cambridge. She taught Art History at the University of Saskatchewan; and various courses on visual culture at Dalhousie University, where she holds appointments with the departments of History and Gender and Women’s Studies, and the Fountain School of Performing Arts; and is coordinator for the Certificate program in Art History and Visual Culture.

Nils Clausson served as Executive Director of AIDS Regina from 1987-1993. In 1989, he produced William Hoffman’s As Is, both as a fundraiser and to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic, then often thought of as a “big city” problem. He continued with four other benefits over the next five years, with Guy Michaud directing the productions. In October 1993, Clausson and Michaud co-founded Oscar Wilde & Company, a theatre group in Regina, the only gay theatre company on the Canadian prairies. Its primary mandate was to produce plays about AIDS and gay issues, as well as other important social and political issues. [With material from Clausson [email] and Michaud, “Introducing Oscar Wilde & Company”].

After graduating from the College of Engineering, Peter Weber began a career with the Canadian National Railway, interrupted only by service in the Army in 1943-1944. Mr. Weber retired in 1977.

Reverend Joseph Holmes a Methodist minister in Exeter, Ontario. He was married to Lucretia (Cretia) Burke. He and his family travelled between churches in Ontario, and ultimately retired in Saskatoon around 1918. Two of his sons worked as dentists in Saskatoon, and his daughter worked for the Star Phoenix.

Roger A. Pierson earned his B.Sc. in zoology (1978) and an M.Sc. in anatomy (1982) from Purdue University, Indiana. He went on to earn his PhD in reproductive endocrinology and physiology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison (1987). He joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan in 1988 as a professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and director of the Reproductive Biology Research Unit (College of Medicine). His research is multi-disciplinary: he is an associate member of the department of Herd Medicine and Theriogenology (Western College of Veterinary Medicine), and a member of the department of Biomedical Engineering (College of Engineering). He has earned numerous awards for his research, including First Prize Research Paper at the 14th International FIGO conference (1994); CFAS Basic Science Research Award (1996 and 2000), and the University of Saskatchewan Distinguished Researcher Award (2000).