HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-11-05, Page 78People power
GSS/Wednesday, Nov 5, 1986
C,.i r �, . �ien was a
ig rt f ry
acLaren'S
i
As a young lady of 19 with a
stenography background, a
strong will and a good
measure of confidence, Mary
MacLaren was set to take on the
world.
Well, at least the city of Detroit.
But her parents had different ideas
LII !! !Ilii cilli WIi4'II Maly ti tille'1111,1y,
accepted a position at the Dominion
Road Machinery Company in 1923 to
appease her parents, it was the
beginning of an enviable career that
would span pver 40 years of service
and seven decades.
"I didn't want to work there, I just
did it to please my family," Mary
recalled. "I wanted to go to Detroit
and work. Everybody went to
Detroit then and I had friends there.
"My mother was against my
moving to Detroit so I went. to
Champion instead against my will.
But, I got so involved from the start
that it became my whole life. I loved
every year there."
She rhymes off dates, names,
managers, employees and bosses
from a prepared text in a cold,
calculated manner that belies the
warm, family atmosphere she
helped foster in a local company that
tried to compete in the road
machinery market. And as she
allows herself to reminisce about her
lengthy career, there's a twinkle in
her eye and a hint of a
f+`.. grin that t
♦1-1.1,atcr: br.b itto hrOlid
smile.
It's obvious Champion was, and
still is, a big part of Mary
MacLaren's life.
"I loved every year at Champion.
It was just so much a part of my
life," she offered. "And the things
Mr. Sully (Bruce) used to do to me.
Well, it was just so much fun to work
there."
While she tries to catalogue that
career in chronological fashion, it is
the people and warm memories that
Mary treasures the most.
When she began working for
manager Tom Mitchell (who_later
bought controlling interest in the
company) in 1923 as a stenographer
and bookkeeper, Mary used to carry
the payroll home in her purse to
Continued on Page 15
Mary MacLaren began working at Champion in 1923 and was still
employed by the company in the 1970s.
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