(10 Nov. 1928-21 May 1985), businessman. (William R. MacEwen, Bill MacEwen) Born at Maxville. Parents: William Agassiz MacEwen and his wife Rachel (Rheta) S. MacLeod. He attended Maxville schools and a business college in Toronto. His business career was in Maxville. In 1955, he bought the family feed and seed company from his father. He sold the feed business to Maple Leaf Mills in 1975 but bought it back in 1983. He also established a hardware store in Maxville, and a Ford-Mercury dealership south of Alexandria, and had extensive farming interests. In 1976 he and his son Allan founded MacEwen Fuels. Bill MacEwen was a Mason, president of the Glengarry Highland Games, a Maxville councillor and reeve, and a founding director of Maxville Manor. Being a dedicated amateur pilot, in 1961 he was building a light aircraft landing field at Maxville. (Glengarry News 18 May 1961) He was married to Vera Elva Grant. (three children) William R. MacEwen died of cancer at 56 after an illness of four years. He was a Presbyterian elder. Like his father, he stayed at home and flourished as a businessman at a time when many critics thought that no good economic opportunities remained in GC. Today, the farm feed and fuel businesses of his sons Jim and Allan have made Maxville an economic centre important to an extent remarkable given the small population of the village. The looming structure of the MacEwen feed mill marks the approach to Maxville from afar, and is the symbol of Maxville for many people. The MacEwen name is a familiar sight to motorists through its appearance on gas stations throughout the easternmost part of Ontario, including Ottawa, and on the fuel trucks that come and go on the roads supplying the gas stations and home customers. The fiftieth gas station in the MacEwen chain had its official opening in Sept. 1988 (GN 5 Oct. 1988, with photo).
Glengarry News 12 June 1985 (anon. but with touches of Angus H. McDonell’s style) * Campbell, Tannis, & Stewart, MacDougalls, 458-465 (with portrait) * gravestone, Maxville Cemetery * Maxville (1991) 299-301, 331, 649-651 * “MacEwens: in Maxville 50 Years” (history, one photo), GN 4 April 1984 (Progress Supplement)