William August Kovach (January 30, 1909 – August 4, 1966) was a politician from

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

from 1948 until his death in 1966 as a member of the Social Credit caucus in government.

Early life

William August Kovach was born on January 30, 1909, in Passburg, Alberta, which became part of the Crowsnest Pass municipality. After completing grade school in Passburg he worked on various construction crews, grading for railways and highways in southern Alberta and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. In 1926, Kovach started working in a coal mine in Bellevue,

. He left the mines to become a prospector. He supplemented his income by driving a taxi and trapping animals for fur. Kovach began working at the Hillcrest-Mowhawk Mines in Hillcrest, Alberta. He became a part time recording secretary for the

United Mine Workers The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing work ...

. Kovach continued working as a prospector, ending up with West Canadian Collieries. He left the mining business in 1947 to found a trucking company, raise live stock on his ranch and sell insurance.

Political career

Kovach first ran for a seat in the Alberta Legislature in the 1948 general election, as the Social Credit candidate in the electoral district of Pincher Creek-Crowsnest. He won on the third vote count to hold the seat for his party. In the 1952 general election, he defeated Liberal candidate Thomas Costigan in a landslide. In the 1955 general election, Kovach defeated two other candidates, including H. Ferguson, who was nominated jointly by the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. In the 1959 general election, Kovach defeated two other candidates in a landslide. In the 1963 general election, Kovach lost a significant portion of his share of the vote in the last election, but held on to the district with a clear majority over three other candidates. Kovach died on August 4, 1966, from a heart seizure while on a fishing trip at Lost Creek.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovach, William 1909 births 1966 deaths Alberta Social Credit Party MLAs 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta