Grenville Goodwin


Grenville W. "Gren" Goodwin was Mayor of Ottawa for several months in 1951. His hometown was Prescott, Ontario and he was an optometrist by profession. He moved to Ottawa in 1911. He served in France during World War I, where he was injured. Upon returning to Canada, he attended the University of Toronto and graduated from the Royal College of Science, Toronto. He also attended the American College of Optics in Detroit.
Goodwin defeated incumbent mayor E.A. Bourque in December 1950 by approximately 10,000 votes. But Goodwin's term in office was cut short at age 53. He had an unexpected heart failure and died shortly afterwards at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. Charlotte Whitton was immediately appointed the city's next mayor.