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Sorensen Station name a
fitting tribute
reprinted from Red Deer Express June 16, 2010
On Monday, June 14 Red Deer
City Council voted to name the new downtown transit terminal/parkade
'Sorensen Station' in honour of Gordon L. Sorensen.
It is a fitting tribute to one of Central Alberta's transportation
pioneers, who is also remembered as a hard working and highly
principled businessman.
Gordon Sorensen was born on April 23, 1904 in Detroit, Michigan. He
moved with his family to a farm near Erskine, Alberta in 1911. In
1928, he was married in Stettler to Julietta Clark. They were to
have two children, Audrey and Cec.
Gordon went into the fur business. However, in May 1933, he started
bus service from Lacombe to Castor with an old eight-passenger
Studebaker. Unfortunately, the venture proved to be a bust.
Gordon was not a person who gave up easily. On June 15, 1933, he
started a bus service from Red Deer to Sylvan Lake. The move proved
to be a success. Gordon found himself transporting more people to
summer camps in one day than he had with the entire six-week Lacombe
to Castor run. In August 1933, he extended the route out to Rocky
Mountain House.
Gordon found that there was a strong demand for parcel service.
Although he only charged 25c per package, parcel delivery provided
much needed income.
Gordon also worked as a relief driver for Greyhound. While he was on
those trips, his brother Stan took care of the Rocky Mountain House
service. Greyhound paid Gordon 3c per mile, but with trips as long
as 400 miles per day, the extra work was worth it.
Gordon soon needed a bigger vehicle for his regular route. He bought
a five-passenger Chevrolet sedan, cut it up and put it on a Chev
truck chassis. Thus, he had a 14-passenger bus. Later in 1937,
Gordon was able to purchase a 17-passenger International Bus. The
new vehicle provided much better service, but the cost made money
very tight for the next few years.
A big boost came with the start of the Second World War and the
opening of the Penhold Airbase. Gordon was soon running 16 trips per
day from Red Deer to the base. He also opened a bus depot and coffee
shop on Gaetz Avenue.
The Sorensens initially lived above the depot. However, they soon
built a house on 55 St. that remained Gordon and Julietta's home for
the rest of their lives. The property is the site of the new housing
unit being built by the Central Alberta Women's Outreach.
Appropriately, it is being named Julietta's Place.
In 1945, the Sorensen's built a new bus depot on 52 St. Gordon
bought a portion of Red Bus Lines out of Drumheller and was soon
running routes across Central and Southern Alberta.
With school consolidations under way, Gordon started a school bus
business. He built up a fleet of 37 school buses and had 50
employees. He sold the business in 1957 and it continued on as
Prairie Bus Lines.
Gordon also started a bus, ambulance and hearse dealership. After
Gordon sold the business, it became Superior Safety Equipment, one
of Red Deer's leading manufacturing industries.
Despite the challenges of running a growing set of businesses,
Gordon and Julietta were active in the community. Gordon was active
with the Elks and Masonic Lodges. He was very active with the Lions
Club and served as the Lions District Governor in 1945. He was later
made a life member of the Club. He and Julietta were also honoured
for their volunteer service by being named Chief Elk and Elk Woman
by the Blackfoot First Nation at Browning, Montana.
On August 31, 1956, Gordon bought the city bus service from Dan
Donaghy, who had run it since 1947, first with an old army van and
later with second-hand buses. Gordon initially only had one City
bus. However, over the next 10 years, he built it up to a fleet of
14 buses operating on regular schedules.
In 1964, Gordon had a serious heart attack. He consequently sold the
highway bus service. This was later amalgamated into Greyhound Bus
Lines. In 1966, the city bus service was sold to the City of Red
Deer. Thus, the Red Deer Transit Department was born.
Gordon Sorensen passed away in November 1981. Julietta passed away
in April 2004. They are buried together in the Alto Reste Memorial
Gardens.
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Gordon Sorensen on CHCA television in 1960 for a Lions Club
fundraiser for the Canadian National Institute for the
Blind.
Photo
courtesy of the Red Deer and District Archives
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History of Bus
Service in Central Alberta page
Red Deer Transit
history page
News article: Parkade named Sorensen Station
(Red Deer Express June 2010)
News article: Downtown parkade to be named
after transportation pioneer Gordon
Sorensen
(Red Deer Advocate June 2010)
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