John Percy Page

The Honourable John Percy Page
8th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
In office December 19, 1959 – January 6, 1966
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Georges Vanier
Premier	Ernest Manning
Preceded by	John J. Bowlen
Succeeded by	Grant MacEwan
Leader of the Opposition
In office February 22, 1945 – August 17, 1948
Preceded by	James H. Walker
Succeeded by	4-year vacancy (next James Harper Prowse)
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton
In office March 21, 1940 – June 18, 1959 Serving with Ernest Manning, Norman B. James, David Milwyn Duggan, Hugh J. Macdonald, Elmer Roper, William J. Williams, Lou Heard, James Harper Prowse, Clayton Adams, Joseph Donovan Ross, Edgar Gerhart, Harold E. Tanner
Preceded by	William R. Howson Samuel A. Barnes George Van Allen David Milwyn Duggan David B. Mullen Gerald O'Connor
Succeeded by	district abolished
Personal details
Born	(1887-05-14)May 14, 1887 Rochester, New York
Died	March 2, 1973(1973-03-02) (aged 85) Edmonton, Alberta
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Independent Citizen's Association (until 1952) Progressive Conservative (from 1952)
Spouse	Maude Roche ​ (m. 1910)​
Children	1
Residence(s)	Edmonton, Alberta
Alma mater	Normal School Queen's University
Occupation	teacher, basketball coach, politician
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John Percy Page (May 14, 1887 – March 2, 1973) was a Canadian teacher, basketball coach, provincial politician, and the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

Early life and education

Born in Rochester, New York, the son of Absalom Bell Page and Elizabeth Thomas, he moved with his family in 1890 to Bronte, Ontario. He attended Oakville Junior High School, Hamilton Collegiate Institute, Ontario Normal School, and Queen's University. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University, and a Bachelor of Commercial Science degree from the American Institute of Business.

In 1906, he accepted a teaching position at Rothesay Collegiate in Rothesay, New Brunswick. In 1907, he switched to the St. Thomas Collegiate Institute where he taught until 1912.

In 1910 J. Percy Page married Maude Roche, daughter of Gilbert Roche, of St. Thomas, Ontario. They had one daughter: Patricia Hollingsworth.

In 1912 Percy took a position in Edmonton, Alberta to introduce commercial training into the Edmonton high school system. Before retiring from teaching in 1952, he would be a Principal at two Edmonton high schools.

Coaches Edmonton Grads

While at the McDougall Commercial High School in 1914-15 he was the coach of the senior girls' basketball team. He continued to coach the same girls after graduation on a team that became known as The Edmonton Grads. The team under his tutorship would become one of the most successful teams of all time in sport, winning 502 of 522 games, for a winning percentage of .961, and winning all 27 Olympic matches they played in the Olympics in 1924, 1928, 1932 and 1936. However, women's basketball was not an official Olympic sport until 1976. In 1955, he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as a basketball builder.

Political career

In the 1940 Alberta election, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the Edmonton electoral district as a member of the Independent Citizen's Association, an anti-Social-Credit alliance of Conservatives, Liberals and others, of which he was a leading member.

He was re-elected in 1944. From 1945 to 1948, he was the Leader of the Opposition.

He was defeated in 1948, but was elected in 1952 as a Progressive Conservative. In 1952, he was appointed House Leader for the Progressive Conservatives. He was re-elected in 1955. He lost re-election in 1959.

From 1957 to 1959, he was also a trustee of the Edmonton Public School Board.

In 1959, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Alberta and served until 1966.

Honours

In 1961, he was made a Knight of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. In 1961, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta. The J. Percy Page School in Edmonton is named in his honour.

References

• "Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography". Archived from the original on February 11, 2006. Retrieved March 10, 2006.

External links

• John Percy Page at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• FrozenHoops.com History of basketball in Canada