Fonds jhse-71 - Peter Owen family fonds

<p>Peter Owen was born Peter Offerbacher in Munich, Germany in 1924. In 1937, Lawyer Harry Friedman of Edmonton applied to Canadian Immigration for a permit to bring Peter to Canada. After a year of correspondence with various intermediaries, Mr. Owen was allowed into Canada by an Order-In-Council, dictated by the federal cabinet, which allowed 22 people into Canada, including eight Jews. Mr. Owen was the only Jewish child allowed to immigrate to Canada during the war period. Mr. Friedman had to post a $1000 bond to the Canadian government guaranteeing that Peter would complete his education and not become a burden on the Canadian Government. His family, who managed to escape to Bolivia, later joined him in Edmonton after the war. <p>Mr. Owen graduated with an Arts degree from the University of Alberta in 1944 and served with the Royal Canadian Armored Corps until 1945. He continued on to graduate in Law from the University of Alberta in 1948 and practiced law in Edmonton. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1965. He was devoted to his profession, and held many posts, including President of the Edmonton Bar Association, founding member of the Criminal Legal Aid Project, and was the first Executive Director of the Legal Education Society of Alberta. He was active in several community organizations, serving as vice-chairman of the Racing Commission, chairman of the University Hospital Board 1978- 1985, president of the Edmonton Art Gallery, on the executive of the Edmonton Symphony Society, member of the Board of the Volunteer Centre of Edmonton, member of the Board of the Premier's Advisory Committee on the Constitution, and Chair of the Board of the University of Alberta Hospital. In the Jewish community, he served as the first secretary of the Jewish Community Council. <p>He served on the executive of the Beth Shalom Synagogue. He also, in his later years, served on the Board of the Jewish Archives and Historical Society of Edmonton and Northern Alberta, conducting oral history interviews. <p>Violet Rose was born in 1930. In ca. 1953, she married Peter Owen. The Owens had four children, Susan (Owen Kagan),who is a sculptor, and created the Holocaust Memorial Sculpture on the grounds of the Edmonton Legislature, Tom, a lawyer, Dan, a teacher and Mia. Violet Owen is a well-known sculptor and artist in Edmonton. Peter Owen passed away on May 15, 2006.</p>