Wootten, Roy

Roy Wootten was born in Brandon Manitoba in 1913. His family moved to the Victoria area in 1925, where he attended Royal Oak School. He worked at various jobs around Victoria until opening his own retail dairy, which he sold in 1939. In 1940, Roy Wootten first joined the Saanich Fire Department, and later the Licence Department and the Building, Plumbing and Wiring Department. In 1950 he left Saanich to become a business agent for the Civic and School Board Employees on Vancouver Island. Roy Wootten ran for Saanich Council in 1951 and served until 1954, then returned to work for Saanich as Licence Inspector and Tax Collector. He was also Special Events Coordinator, with the Saanich Strawberry Festival being one of his well-known projects. He was Vice President of CUPE for all of Canada, President of the Greater Victoria Civic Employees Scholarship Benevolent Society, President of Saanich Municipal Employee's Association and the Firefighters Union President. He retired in 1974, at which time he became an Alderman and served on Council until 1976. Roy Wootten died in 1993.