Carl Watson Lester

 

Carl Watson Lester died in Edmonton April 17, 1980 following a lengthy illness. He was a Dominion and Alberta Land Surveyor and Director of Surveys for the Province of Alberta from 1951 until his retirement in 1964.

 

Carl was born in Truro, Nova Scotia on July 27, 1900, where he attended public school and Colchester County Academy. His schooling was interrupted by World War I during which he served three years with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps and with the Royal Air Force.

 

After the war, he moved west and enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta. His surveying career began in 1927 with the Alberta Government where he served articles to the H.S. Day, DLS ALS.

 

He received his commission as a DLS in 1935 and as an ALS in 1936 and continued his career with the Alberta Government as district surveyor until 1951 and as Director of Surveys for the Province of Alberta until his retirement in 1964.

 

He took an active interest in the surveying and mapping profession both through the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association and the Canadian Institute of Surveying. He was secretary-treasurer and a member of Council of the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association from 1948 to 1952; vice-president in 1953 and president in 1954.

 

He was then elected Provincial Councillor for the Canadian Institute of Surveying from 1955 to 1958, followed by one year terms as second vice-president, first vice-president and president in 1962.