Dennis Kestell Yorath

Dennis Kestell Yorath, M.B.E., LL.D.(Hon), was born in London, England, on April 30, 1905. His family immigrated to Canada in 1913 and settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He continued his schooling there and in Victoria, British Columbia.

He spent two years with the Imperial Bank of Canada at Edmonton, Alberta, and in 1924 joined the Edmonton staff of Northwestern Utilities Ltd., then a subsidiary of the International Utilities Corporation. He moved to Calgary, Alberta, in 1925 and was employed by another subsidiary, the Canadian Western Natural Gas Company. He served in various management positions and became president of the two subsidiaries in 1956. In 1962 Yorath was named chairman of the two companies, a position he held until 1969. From 1961 to 1972 he served as Vice-President and Director of International Utilities Corporation, and Vice-Chairman from 1973-76. The corporation's name was changed to IU International Corporation in 1973.

Yorath began his involvement in aviation in 1928 when he became a charter member of the Calgary Flying Club. He earned his Private Pilot's Licence in 1929. He served as Director for several years and Vice-President of this flying club from 1929 to 1933, an office he held again from 1939 to 1944. He became President of the club in 1944.

When the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) was instituted after the outbreak of World War II, Yorath was named Managing Director of No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School at Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1941 the school moved to High River, Alberta, where he remained in command until the BCATP concluded its operations in May 1945.

It was largely due to Yorath's exceptional management abilities that the High River Flying Training School was named by the government as one of the most outstanding elementary flying training establishments in Canada. For his work in directing pilot training, he was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.) in 1946.

The Royal Canadian Flying Clubs Association (RCFCA) elected him Alberta Zone Director in 1944, and in that capacity, Yorath closely observed and analyzed private flying trends in Canada, including costs and revenue. He noted a declining interest in training, as well as in sport and recreational flying. He decided that the situation had to change if a pool of young pilots were to be maintained for future requirements of defence and commercial aviation.

During his term in office as national president of RCFCA from 1947 to 1949, the association carried out several successful projects designed to enhance the development of aviation in Canada. Outstanding examples were the revival of the Webster Trophy competition in 1947 and the National Flying Club Week, which was an annual publicity project; organization of the Model Aeronautics Association of Canada in 1948; and reinstatement of the Safe Flying Campaign of the RCFCA member clubs in 1948, which had contributed to a lowering of accident rates. Yorath was also instrumental in gaining federal government aid for student pilots in 1949. For these contributions he was awarded the Trans-Canada (McKee) Trophy for 1949.

While still president of RCFCA, Yorath donated a trophy, the Yorath Trophy, to stimulate active competition among the flying clubs in Canada at the management level. The award went to the instructor-manager of a club which had used its facilities to be best advantage. MD Fallow of the Edmonton Flying Club, was awarded this trophy eight times in the period from 1950 to 1958.

He was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Alberta in 1974. Dennis Yorath died on May 8, 1981.

Dennis Kestell Yorath was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974 at a ceremony held in Edmonton, Alberta.