1920: H.B. Atkinson

H.B. Atkinson, Embro

Born on July 10, 1883 in Vaughan, Ontario, Dr. Howard Burgess Atkinson settled in Embro, Ontario. In 1906, he opened a veterinary office in the Village with his brother Dr. Edgar F. Atkinson. They had a livery stable and infirmary located at 142, Huron St. On October 7, 1907 he married Jane Rutherford, and about a decade later he served on the Village’s first hydro committee along with George M. Creighton, Dr. Ransom H. Green, and W.R. Trenaman. 

He was a past District Deputy of Wilson Mason District; a member of the King Solomon Masonic Lodge in Thames; a Past Master of the Thistle Mason Lodge in Embro; a Past Noble Grand of the Stars Oddfellows Lodge in Embro; and a member of the Thamesford Oddfellows Lodge. He would later settle in Thamesford where he was a member of the Westminster United Church. 

He served as an Embro Village Councillor from 1910-1914, 1918, and 1930-1939, and Reeve in 1915-1916 and 1919-1920. He was elected County Warden in 1920. 

              His daughter, Jean B. Atkinson, was a pilot during WWII and was killed in 1944 while landing a plane in Winnipeg.  Dr. Atkinson passed away in 1964, and is buried in the North Embro Cemetery.