Cyrus Dolph

Born in Breslau, Cyrus Dolph began his career as a bookkeeper at Clare Brothers, Preston. In 1897 he formed the Metal Shingle and Siding Co. which later developed subsidiaries in other provinces. He invented disc brakes and television tubes and took out patents on metal shingles and a metal barn design.

He was president of the Preston Board of Trade, chairman of the Preston Public School Board and served on the boards of the Preston Library and the Victorian Order of Nurses. Dolph bought Preston’s radio station CKPC in its infancy and operated it successfully for ten years. He was honorary president of the board of governors of Freeport Sanatorium to which he donated X-ray equipment. He donated Preston’s first modern open-tank swimming pool, an organ to St. John’s Anglican Church, Preston, money to South Waterloo Memorial Hospital, as well as education and sports scholarships. He was co-founder and benefactor of the Church Army of Canada in Toronto.