Description

ROSSITER, LEO FRANCIS, merchant and farm machinery dealer, realtor, and chair of Workers Compensation Board; b. 13 January 1923 in Morell, son of J. Ernest Rossiter and Catherine Clarkin; m. 17 October 1946 Anna Pierce, and they had six children, Jaqueline, Gerald, Eugene, Melvin, Elijah (deceased 1954), and Hanna (deceased 1964); Roman Catholic; d. 25 October 1996 in Charlottetown. Rossiter, a Conservative, was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in the general election of 1955 for 2nd Kings. He was re-elected in the general elections of 1959, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, and 1979. In 1959 he served as Minister of Industry and Natural Resources and Minister of Fisheries. From 1965 to July 1966, Rossiter was Minister of Fisheries and Minister of Municipal Affairs. He was again appointed as Minister of Fisheries in May 1979, and also served as Provincial Secretary from May 1979 to 1980. In 1980 Rossiter became Minister of Labour. He resigned from politics upon his appointment as Chair of the Workers Compensation Board on 1 November 1981. Rossiter also served as Opposition critic for housing, fisheries, public works, and highways. He was chair of the Morell Village Commission for several terms. Rossiter was educated in Morell and at St. Dunstan’s University. For 20 years, he operated a general store and a farm machinery dealership. He was the general manager of Dingwell and Rossiter Limited. Rossiter also operated Rossiter Realty. He served two terms as the provincial representative on the council of governors of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, and was appointed president of the Association of Workers Compensation Boards for Canada. Rossiter was a 4th degree member of the Knights of Columbus, and was an associate member of the Navy Officers Club of Charlottetown and the United Officers Service Club. In 1978 he received the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1984 he received investiture into the “Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem” as a Serving Brother, by Governor General Madame Jeanne Sauve. Leo Rossiter died 25 October 1996 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown. Anna Rossiter was the daughter of Elija Pierce of Elmira., CPG 1981; CWW 1983 p. 980; PEI Cabinet Biographic Summary 1980; Guardian 31 March 1978, 31 October 1981, 24 February 1984, 5 August 1987, 20 October 1996.