Wilfred Laurier Churchill was born June 17, 1897 in Nova Scotia, Canada. His original name was "Wilfrid" but he later changed his name to Wilfred and late in life was known at work as "Bill." He was named after a former prime minister of Canada. His parents were Nelson T. Churchill and Margaret Lamont. Wilfred grew up in Nova Scotia on "Short Beach", a rural area near Yarmouth. He was a lobster fisherman, owning his own boat when he was just a teenager. He learned from his father to memorize poetry; in his later years he entertained his grandchildren reciting poems he had memorized. Wilfred served in the Canadian Army in World War I, which left him with shrapnel in his arm and a severe head injury at age 18. A piece of sheep's bone was placed in his skull to repair a war injury. He also lost a finger and suffered severe burns while in the military, and almost died. He was awarded a medal for bravery. After his military career, he graduated from Mt. Allison College in Nova Scotia, then received his civil engineering degree from the University of Detroit. While working for Consumer's Power company, he was introduced to his wife through "Cousin," (Louise?). This lady, "Cousin," was a friend of Chester Churchill, a relative of Wilfred's who came to Detroit from Nova Scotia. "Cousin" worked at the Ford plant alongside Marie Forest. Wilfred and Chester both rented rooms from "Cousin." Wilfred married Marie L. Forest on September 17, 1925. They were living in Kalamazoo, where Wilfred was building a dam, when their son Donald was born in July 1926. The couple then bought a home in Lincoln Park, where they had a daughter, Marilyn. They lost their house in the depression. Their son Donald was 5 1/2 years old at that time. It was a house on Winchester. Wilfred took a job working as a foreman on the W.P.A. installing water and sewer lines, and then worked as a laborer at Chevrolet. Wilfred proudly joined the U.A.W. in 1936. With the start of World War II, Wilfred was called into management by General Motors because engineers were in such short supply. He helped with a plant in St. Louis, MO, which produced shell casings for the war effort. Wilfred was able to afford a very small house on Greenlawn Ave. in Detroit. Later, Wilfred moved to a home in Walled Lake, along Upper Straits Lake. He built it himself. He dug the basement with a horse and scoop. He finished the knotty pine paneling at the Walled Lake house. His son Don helped lay the block for the chimney. In about 1962, Wilfred retired from General Motors, where he had been in charge of buildings and facilities for the entire Chevrolet operation. He and Marie moved to North Port Charlotte, Florida, where he supervised construction of the yacht club and served on the board of directors of a bank. A civic hall in North Port was named after him. He died May 14, 1978 and is interred next to his wife at a mausoleum in Gulf Pines Park Cemetery, in Englewood, Sarasota County, Florida.