2011-2012 District Govenor

District Governor Al Beddows was born in Woodstock, Ontario on May 1, 1948, the youngest of 8 children. His parents moved to Chemainus, B.C. in early 1949 where Al grew up and attended Chemainus High School. It was here that his classmates voted him most likely to end up in the B.C. Penitentiary. It was while working in the Chemainus sawmill that Al realized this was not what he wanted to do with his life, he moved his family to Vancouver where he attended an electronic technical program at Vancouver Vocational Institute. After graduating from the tech school, he was immediately hired by Canadian Pacific Telecommunications as a technician and worked in Vancouver, East Kootenay, and finally in Victoria. In 1972 he went to work for the Federal Government in the Defense Department, working on the communications equipment on naval vessels. Al retired as Foreman for the D.N.D. Communications Cryptographic Dept.

In 1989 Al moved to Sooke and shortly thereafter joined the Sooke Lions. He has served in just about every position in his club, and can usually be found at any event his club puts on.

Volunteering seems to be in Al’s blood; he has served as a lay councilor with the Victoria Need Crises Line, and then continued as a board member for Need. He has been a councilor with Victim Services thru Victoria City Police. He was a member of the Sooke Advisory Planning Commission, has been a judge for the Sooke Fine Arts Festival, and he is currently serving on the Board of the Sooke Regional Historical Society (Sooke Museum). For many years Al was the Chair of the Camp Shawnigan Improvement Committee. He has been the Facilitator for the District Club Support team (LEMPRR).

In 2007-2008 Al became Zone Chair for 19I-2. In April 2009, while sitting in a Cabinet meeting in Port Alberni, Al casually mentioned to PDG John Wilson that he might be interested in the new position of 2nd Vice District Governor, before Al knew what hit him, he had been nominated, seconded and on his way. Al embraced this new position and was able to prepare the position of first Vice District Governor which he held in 2010-2011, and is currently District Governor for 2011-2012.

DG Al is a graduate of the Northwest Lions Leadership Institute. DG Al has had the honour of receiving the Judge Brian Stephenson Award, an International President’s Certificate, Certificate of Appreciation from Council Chair, and numerous District Governor Certificates of Appreciation.

DG Al is married to his wife Jane. Their combined families include 2 sons, 2 daughters, 2 son-in-laws, and 6 grandchildren. When not totally immersed in Lions, Al and Jane love to travel and enjoy socializing with family and friends.