Louis E. Fontaine died in Quebec on
June 20th. Mr. Fontaine was one of the best known members of his
profession and had a distinguished career as a surveyor and
government official.
Born on October 3rd, 1868, Mr. Fontaine was employed in his
younger days on the staff of the House of Commons. In 1887, he
was articled to D.C. Morency, PLS, DLS, and was commissioned a
PLS in 1891; and in the following year, he
received his commission as a Dominion Land Surveyor. In
1911
he was commissioned an Alberta Land Surveyor. For some time he
was engaged on surveys in the province of Quebec, and during
this period he made exploratory traverses of many of the rivers
entering the St. Lawence east of the Saguenay.
In 1893, he was employed on the Alaska boundary and in 1898 as
assistant on Dominion Land Surveys. In 1900, he was appointed as
chief of party on Dominion Land Surveys, and was engaged in
succeeding years on outline surveys and other important work
until his appointment as Inspector of Surveys in 1908. His
inspectorate was distinguished by careful and accurate
examination of the surveys under his control and his fairness
both to the government which he represented and to the
contractor.
Latterly, he was in charge of the Land Classification Surveys of
the Topographical Survey of Canada, and on his retirement had completed over thirty-seven years of
government service.
Mr. Fontaine was several times a member of the Council of the
Dominion Land Surveyors' Association and was only prevented by
failing health from accepting the presidency. In recognition of
his life-long interest in that Association, he was made an
honorary member in
1930.
Perhaps Mr. Fontaine's most dominant characteristic was the high
standard that he set for himself in his professional work and in
his duties as a government official, and he lost no opportunity
of impressing that high conception of responsibility upon his
employees and associates. In personal contacts he was a
delightful companion, and exemplified throughout his life the
bearing and manner of a gentleman of the old school.
Canadian Surveyor,
July 1932
