Rendell, Arthur Stephen

Tim Rendell stated "Steve was born in Vancouver and lived his entire life in Vancouver.

He was the second of five children born to Harry Rendell and Norah (Holland) Rendell. While on leave in Vancouver in early 1945, he married Margaret Helen Buller on March 24, 1945.

They had three children, all born in Vancouver: Arthur Harry Buller Rendell (January 29, 1946), Timothy Howard Rendell (November 30, 1948) and Sarah Louise (Rendell) Tweedale (July 2, 1950). Marg died in Vancouver on March 6, 1985. Steve married Kathleen Joan McKelvie in 1988. Steve invested his entire career in the family business started by his father, Harry Rendell, in the late 1920’s. In the very early 1900’s (prior to 1910) Harry came to Vancouver from his birthplace of St Johns Newfoundland where several previous generations of Rendells were involved in ship chandlery and related maritime businesses in Newfoundland, most notably Job Bros. Harry Rendell’s first phase of enterprise was Coast Steamship Company running several coastal freighters. Over the next seventy years under the leadership of Harry, succeeded by his son Steve, the company went through several iterations where the name was change to Rendell Tractor & Equipment Co Ltd, and finally Summer Equipment Ltd. Principal activities in various phases started with owning and operating small coastal freighters, to sales and service for heavy construction equipment, to owning a fleet of tow boats and barges, to manufacturing, selling and servicing many ‘boom boats’ (for log sorting), to manufacturing and servicing small marine service Z drives (under brand name Olympic Drives) and manufacturing and selling marine hydraulic steering systems for mid-size vessels (under the iconic brand name of “Wagner Steering’). The family business was sold in 2003. The tow boat and barge operation was a joint venture with Peter Shields and Shields Navigation. The 50/50 joint venture was incorporated under the name Egmont Towing and Sorting Ltd. Summer Equipment managed the construction, fitting out, maintenance and servicing of the fleet of tow boat and barges. Shields Navigation managed the engagement of customers, the crewing of the vessels and the day-to-day operations of the fleet. Summer Equipment built four tow boats for service in Egmont Towing’s fleet: Storm Crest, Storm Force, Storm Queen and Storm Wave. Egmont also acquired a small fleet of barges from local builders. A highlight of the Egmont Towing fleet in the early 1990’s was Haida Chieftain which was purchased from Kingcome Navigation (subsidiary of MacMillan Bloedel). This vessel was classed as a “large tug”. Originally bult by the US Army in 1944 to serve in WWII North Atlantic towing and salvage, it was sold in 1945 to Foundation Maritime, who operated this large tug under the name of Foundation Lillian doing deep sea salvage work before she was brought out to the West Coast by Kingcome Navigation."

He was appointed as a Probationary Sub-Lieutenant (Temp.) RCNVR (With seniority dated 21/11/1941).

He served in HMCS Kings (Officer Training Establishment) 1942.

He was appointed as a Sub-Lieutenant (Temp.) RCNVR (With seniority dated 10/11/1941).

He served in HMCS Kings (Officer Training Establishment) as Divisional Officer for "S Division" 1941.

He was appointed as a Lieutenant (Temp.) RCNVR (With seniority dated 10/11/1943).

He served in the 20th RN Motor Gunboat Division as First Lieutenant 1942 under Lieutenant Douglas Maitland RCNVR.

He served in H.M. MGB 657 on commissioning (In command) 1943.

He served in H.M.C. MTB-633 (In command) 1944.

He served in HMCS Stadacona 1945. (He resigned and was demobilized on 28/06/1945.) (He was qualified with a Watchkeeping Certificate).

He entered into a joint venture with Captain Bob Shields (Shields Navigation) in which the vessels were owned by Rendell Tractor Co. Ltd. but operated by Shields Navigation in Vancouver BC Canada.