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Biography of William Rowbotham - Lieutenant, Engineering d 1983

		Extracted from the photo of the Crew of the Nene on deck taken March 1945
						Photo from the book "NENE LIVES The Story of H.M.C.S. Nene & her Crew" - 1993
	William Redfern Rowbotham - Lieutenant William Redfern Rowbotham was born on May 9, 1918 in Rosetown, Saskatchewan. He attended public school in Stranraer, Saskatchewan and was active in sports, curling and baseball, as well as playing the saxophone in a dance band. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1944 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical). He served as a member of the R.O.T C. and upon graduation served in the RCN. After a training period at HMCS York, in Toronto, he joined HMCS Nene. In March, 1946 he joined the staff of the International Harvester Company in Hamilton, Ontario as a design engineer of harvest machinery. His job took him to many parts of the U.S.A. and Canada where he followed prototypes of harvest machinery. On April 20,1946 he married Georgie Emma Stone of Strongfield, Saskatchewan. They had two children, son William George M.A., married to Rae Moffat, and daughter, Deborah Joan. For years Bill was Scoutmaster of the 19th Sea Scout Troop and he was a member of the Westdale United Church. Bill remained active in sports especially curling and golf. After retiring from Int'l Harvester in 1978, he and Georgie took up square dancing, which he enjoyed in spite of surgery for cancer that same year. He bravely fought the disease and remained active until shortly before his death on July 20, 1983.

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