Norman Hipel
Norman Otto Hipel (March 21, 1890 – February 16, 1953) was a Canadian politician, noted for his service as Minister of Labour for Ontario in the cabinet of Mitchell Hepburn. He served as MLA for Waterloo South.
Personal background and career
Hipel was born in rural Waterloo Township, Ontario near Breslau, Ontario on 21 March 1890, to parents Henry Hipel and Louisa Pelz. He received formal education at the Riverbank School and the Breslau Public School, but he left school early to help support his family, and began work as a store clerk in a Kitchener, Ontario dry goods store. He returned home in 1906 to learn carpentry from his father, and by 1911 had become a building contractor and, in 1913, he moved to Preston, Ontario, and in 1920 started his own construction company, N. O. Hipel Ltd, with ten employees, five horses and a portable sawmill. The company specialized in buildings that required large, uninterrupted floor space. In 1928 his company developed patents on barn and skating rink construction, and built a large number of arenas including the Hespeler Memorial Arena erected in 1947.
Hipel was a member of the Preston Board of Trade, the Ontario Club and was a president and director of the South Waterloo Agricultural Society. He was also a director on the Waterloo County Health Association board, and at the time of his death was also the Preston representative for the South Waterloo Memorial Hospital, now known as the Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
Politics
Hipel began his political career in 1921 when he ran for and was elected to the Preston town council. In 1922 he became the town's
