Eugene Patrick Cullen

CULLEN, LLD, EUGENE PATRICK, farmer and milk processor; b. 7 August 1905 in Hope River, son of Timothy Peter Cullen and Frances Etta Landrigan; m. 29 July 1942 Gladys Kathleen McCardle, and they had four children, Frances Anne, Mary, Connie, and Tom; Roman Catholic; d. 9 July 1995 in Charlottetown. Cullen, a Liberal, was first elected by acclamation to the Legislative Assembly in a by-election held 10 July 1944 for 3rd Queens. He was reelected in the general elections of 1947, 1951, and 1955. He was defeated in the general elections of 1959, 1962, and 1966. In February 1948 he was appointed Speaker and served in this position for two sessions. In 1950 Cullen was Minister of Industry' and Natural Resources, and, from 1955 to 1959, he served as Minister of Agriculture. Cullen's brother Thomas Reid Cullen* also served in the Legislative Assembly, representing 2nd Kings from 1943 to 1947, and again from 1951 to 1955. Cullen was educated at the Union Commercial College and the Prince Edward Island Agricultural and Technical School. He spent much of his life living on a dairy farm originally owned by his father in Central Royalty, later known as Cullen Sherwood. Between 1922 and 1946, the Cullen family operated a dairy farm and a raw milk route. On 1 February 1946, Cullen founded Purity Dairy Limited on Kent Street in Charlottetown. The dairy met with success and was incorporated in 1953. Purity eventually acquired G and G Dairy Limited. By 1990, Purity Dairy owned nine delivery trucks, employed 25 people, and had 3,500 patrons. It has continued to thrive into the 21" century. Cullen was an integral part of the milk producers' efforts to organize, and was secretary of the Charlottetown Milk Producers and Vendors Association, a director of Prince Edward Island Dairymen's Association, and chairman of the Fluid Milk Association. He also was a member of the Prince Edward Island School Milk Foundation. Cullen participated in many community activities. He served as chairman of the board of governors of St. Dunstan's University, chairman of the board of management of Prince Edward Island Central School of Nursing, and chairman and board member of Prince Edward Island Health Services Commission. For many years he was a volunteer with United Way and served as president of the Prince Edward Island United Appeal, as a United Way director in the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, and as the provincial campaign chair in 1970. Cullen was a director of the Charlottetown Hospital Board of Management from 1960 to 1980, and a board member of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital from 1981 to 1988. Cullen served on the University of Prince Edward Island Progress Fund and on the board of management of Basilica Recreation Centre. He was honoured by Health Minister Catherine Callbeck* — later a premier of the province — for faithful service to the Hospital Services Commission from 1968 to 1977, and for his help in introducing medicare to the Province in 1970. The University of Prince Edward Island presented Cullen with an honourary degree in recognition of his contribution to the Island. Eugene Cullen died 9 July 1995. Gladys Cullen was born on 11 April 1919 and died on 13 March 1999. She was the daughter of James McCardle and Annie Duffy of Middleton.