Belair

Other Events:

• Employer: Lang Tanning Co., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-111054

— . Unknown [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-99427

Notes:

CHARLES BELAIR

For more than 70 years, Charles Belair, the dean of photography in Kitchener-Waterloo, created more than 22,200 images of people, including prime ministers and multiple generations of local families. He also photographed several thousand locally-produced products leaving a pictorial record of the history of this community.

Born in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1914, Belair moved to Kitchener with his mother in the early 1920s to join his father who had immigrated here to take a job at the Lang Tanning Company.

Belair completed his primary education in Kitchener and then attended Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School in the technical program where he specialized in drafting. It was at KWC&VS that he began taking pictures for The Grumbler, the school year book.

Unable to find a drafting job, Belair worked for a local photographer and bought the business in 1939, the same year his photograph of the Royal visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth made the front page of the Kitchener Daily Record.

In 1982, Belair was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. In 2000, Belair was named an Honourary Senior Fellow by Renison College, University of Waterloo for his contribution to the community.

In 2002, Belair was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, as well as the K-W Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement recognizing his contribution to the cultural vitality of Waterloo Region.

A member of the Kitchener Rotary Club for more than 60 years, in 2007 Belair and his wife Keiko established the Keiko and Charles Belair Centre for East Asian Studies at Renison College, University of Waterloo.


Waterloo Region Hall of Fame

Charles — Cora Lackenbauer. Cora was born Abt 1920; died Bef 2009. [Group Sheet]