Allan John Spence passed away at the
Rockyview Hospital in Calgary on June 4th
1999,
at the age of 81 years. A Memorial Service celebrating Allan's
life was held at Central United Church on June 12th,
1999.
He was born in Calgary on July 22nd
1917,
son of William and Grace Margaret Spence. He had two brothers
and one sister, all of whom predeceased him. Allan completed
Grade 12 in June,
1937
and then wrote to the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association
requesting information on examinations and articles. His wish
was to serve articles with his grandfather,
A.P. Patrick, ALS, DLS, DTS.
He enrolled in first year university at Mount Royal College and
was awarded a scholarship towards the study of Civil Engineering
at the University of Alberta.
Allan served DLS articles with
Harry S.
Day, ALS, DLS from
1944
to 1946.
He worked on miscellaneous road and other surveys for the
department of Public Works in various locations in northern
Alberta. During the war, Allan participated in a Canadian Army
University Training Program, (COTC) and became a
commissioned officer in
1945.
On May 15th
1946, he graduated from the University of Alberta with a
B.Sc. in Civil Engineering. His articles were transferred from
Mr. Day to Seabury K. Pearce, ALS,
DLS He served Mr. Pearce until December 1st
1947,
where he gained experience in the survey of roads and rights of
way, damsites, and river and lakeshore traverses for Calgary
Power Ltd. in the Seebe, Kananaskis and Lake Minnewanka areas.
Allan started his career with the Land Titles Office in
1949
under the direction of his uncle, James C. Glenday, Manager of
the Survey Department. His DLS articles were accepted by the
Association, and on the strength of his engineering degree, he
was exempted from all preliminary and intermediate examinations,
as well as a number of the finals. He was required to sit six
exams before taking the oral examination. Allan and I were
preparing to write the limited final exam in May
1952,
and we studied together on several occasions. He shared his
knowledge of the Land Titles Act and descriptions with me, and I
helped him prepare for the examination on astronomy. Allan was
registered as an Alberta Land Surveyor on June 26th,
1952
-commission no. 173 - and was subsequently appointed Surveyor to
the Land Titles Office.
Allan retired in
1979
after thirty years of service with the Land Titles Office and
became registered in the Association's inactive roster. Rumor
has it that Allan owned a car, but he preferred to ride his
bicycle to work everyday, no matter what the weather. He was
very athletic, having played hockey at the University level and
was an excellent handball player. His lunch hours were often
spent playing handball at the YMCA. Allan also enjoyed golfing.
In
1969,
he ventured into the publishing business, producing a forty-eight page book on Descriptions of Land which sold for $2.00 a
copy! Allan was a believer in brevity in description writing and
this is reflected in his examples. Explanatory notes were
appended to most descriptions for the benefit of the reader.
He applied to resign his commission, which Council approved with
regret in early
1980.
Following his retirement, the Southern Regional Group of the
Alberta Land Surveyors' Association held a dinner and social
evening in his honour at the Calgary Winter Club. An account of
this event was published in the Summer
1979
issue of ALS News. Allan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's
Disease in March
1998,
but fortunately was able to remain at home, thereby maintaining
a measure of quality of life.
This gentle, courteous man will be sorely missed by those
members of the surveying and legal professions, and others who
had the privilege of knowing him during his career at the Land
Titles Office.
The assistance provided by Barbara Ward,
Army MacCrimmon, ALS (Ret.)
and Syd Loeppky, ALS is greatly
appreciated.
