Shortreed family

William John Shortreed (1887-1962) graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto in 1907. In 1911, he moved to Alberta and studied law at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He married Madge Karran (1892-1950) the next year.

When the First World War broke out, he enlisted with the 260th Canadian Rifles for the duration of the conflict. At the end of hostilities in 1918, Shortreed joined the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force in Siberia until 1919. He then returned to Alberta and was admitted to the bar.

The Shortreed family relocated to Hardisty, Alberta where William practiced law until the outbreak of the Second World War. Despite his age, Shortreed once again joined the Canadian Army and served as a training commander in Alberta until 1942. At that point, the Shortreed family moved to Edmonton where William continued to practice law.

In 1948, William was made Crown Prosecutor in the Supreme Court of Alberta after serving one year as Crown Prosecutor in the city police court. In 1949, he was appointed King's Counsel. At the time of his death in 1962, he was a senior partner in the law firm of Shortreed, Shortreed, Stainton, and Enright.

Margaret Shortreed (1883-1973) was the sister of William Shortreed. She served as the personal secretary to Lady Eaton in Paris, France from the 1920s until 1950. In 1950, Margaret returned to Canada and settled in Edmonton with her brother after William's wife, Madge, died in 1950. Upon William's death in 1962, Margaret relocated to Toronto and lived there until her death in 1973.

John Winfred Karran Shortreed (1914-1981) was the son of William and Madge Shortreed. He followed in his father's footsteps by earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto in 1936. While there he met Mary Cullen Brooks (1914-1992), who was studying home economics. John and Mary married in 1940, just after John joined the Canadian Army. They had three children: John, Ross, and Mary (Okada).

During the Second World War, John served with the Royal Regiment of Canada and rose to the rank of colonel over the course of the conflict. Upon his return to Edmonton he attended the University of Alberta and won the gold medal in law in 1948. He then practiced law with his father and became a Crown prosecutor, being named Queen's counsel in 1962. With the death of William Shortreed, the family law firm underwent a partnership change and amalgamated with Joe Shoctor's firm in 1971.

John Shortreed died in Edmonton in 1981.

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