Wallace Gordon Chalmers
Section 23, Lot 19
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Born in Toronto on August 23, 1923, Wallace Chalmers, son of Floyd and Jean Chalmers, attended Crescent School in Rosedale. As a youngster, Chalmers displayed a special fascination for automobiles and trucks and would frequently be found deeply engrossed in drawing not just the vehicles, but more specifically, their intricate suspension systems. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that the talented young man would eventually join the staff of Direct-Winters trucking company where he could gain practical experience.
In 1945, Chalmers returned to school, attending the University of Toronto where he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1950. Some years later, he perfected and patented a unique rubber suspension system for trucks and trailers. In 1970, Chalmers established Chalmers Suspensions International, Limited to manufacture and distribute his creation. The company was subsequently sold to the ARMBRO Group, a prominent Canadian highway construction firm, with Wallace Chalmers retained as a consultant.
Always interested in the successful integration of engineering and design, Chalmers made large financial grants to the University of Waterloo and to St. Michael’s Hospital where a special professorship in medicine, with emphasis on engineering design in treatment techniques, was established. In 1985, Chalmers was awarded the Canadian Award for Excellence in Engineering.
At the time of his death, Chalmers, who was afflicted with bone cancer, was working on an innovative new wheelchair equipped with a special suspension that would make getting around easier for those with bone and neurological diseases. Wallace Chalmers died on September 25, 1987 at the age of 64. Chalmers’ unusual granite monument takes the form of a large radial truck tire, and was designed and sculpted by a Quebec firm.
Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded