Dan Shiels
- 10th Generation
- Parents: George Edwin Shiels & Mary Elizabeth Jones
- Born: Sept 5, 1751 in Melita, Manitoba, Canada
- Married: Judith Louise (Judy) Vandaele
- 2 Children – Jennifer Dawn & Tracy Nicole
Dan Shiels Younger Days
Daniel Philip “Dan” Shiels was born near Bernice, north of Napinka, Manitoba on Sept 5,1951. He was the 3rd child of George Shiels and Betty Jones.
He grew up on a farm with his parents and took his first job when he was only 10 years old for $0.10 a day herding cows. His first job away from home was $40 per month working on a farm during summer holidays. He graduated from Melita Collegiate in Jun 1969.
In Sept 1969, Dan moved to Calgary, Alberta with his future brother-in-law Chris Switzer. They found a job working for Butler Construction. When that company folded, Dan got a job selling encyclopedias for a month before going to work for his uncle, Oscar Lindbloom in construction.
Manitoba Hydro Career
In Nov 1970, Dan returned from Calgary and began his career with Manitoba Hydro on Nov 30, 1970. He started as an Electrical Maintenance trainee and was on a six month rotation across the province. He started in Winnipeg and then went to Virden, Thompson, Brandon , Dorsey and then Gillam.
The Thompson rotation was on construction and Dan worked in a number of projects including Mystery Lake Road, Ruttan Lake and Island Lake. Dan ran a crew of three men in Island Lake installing diesel generators across the three reservations.
While working at Dorsey, Dan bid on a job in Gillam and was successful. Dan worked as an Operator at the HVDC Station. Dan transferred to maintenance and then to Construction. In 1977, they moved to Sundance, about 35 miles north of Gillam, where Dan worked on the new substation.
In 1978, they moved back to Winnipeg and Dan worked in the office. He started off in Station Design and then moved to Commissioning. In 1998, he transferred to a temporary construction job building the new Control Center. After that project was completed, Dan moved into the operational side of the Control Center and stayed there till he retired in 2007.
Family Time
Dan met Judy Vandaele in 1972 and they were married in Feb 1973. They moved to Gillam right after the wedding and remained there till 1978.
Our first daughter, Jennifer Dawn Shiels was born in Gillam in April 1974. A second daughter, Tracy Nicole Shiels was born in Winnipeg in Sept 1975. In 1978, the family moved back to Winnipeg and bought a house in Charleswood. We lived in that house until Oct 2019.
Both Dan & Judy became volunteers in Winnipeg. Dan got involved in Boy Scouts from 1982‑1986 as a leader and the Group Committee Chairman. When he retired from Boy Scouts, he joined the Community Centre and two years later, he was elected as the President of Varsity View Community Centre. As this was one of the largest Centres in Winnipeg, all the spare time was used on Community Centre events over the next three years. While Dan was President, the whole family was involved in the club. We built a new Arena and worked very closely with the contractor. This was a 1.2-million-dollar project, so we were quite busy. The new arena was opened in 1989 and we now have a trophy presented annually in our name. We also ran Video dances for the teenagers where they could come and dance or simply watch the videos on the screen. Judy was the disc jockey, Jennifer worked the canteen, Dan was the bouncer and Tracy and her friends had a great time. It was a lot of work but it was also time well spent for the community. In Apr 1991, Dan became Past President and took on the job of District President for the 18 Community Centres in the area. A year later he became involved on a city-wide basis with the Community Centres. During this time Dan was also involved in Jennifer and Tracy’s Safe Grad from high school as the fundraising chair. In Apr 1993, Dan took a different turn and retired from all his volunteer jobs.
Judy got involved in Girl Guides, first as a unit guide leader, then as District Commissioner for her area and finally as the coordinator for the only Girl Guide Camp in the Province for over 20 years. The Camp is located 2 hours east of Winnipeg and provided an outdoor camping experience for over 500 girls each summer. Judy’s volunteer position was a year-round job with the administration of the camp throughout the year along with the supervision of a staff of 32 during the summer months. This kept Judy very busy. She has been to Ontario with Girl Guides for Camp Maintenance training and knows a great deal about the physical aspects of the camp. Judy is also very active with other areas of Guiding. She was the treasurer for her area and a Camp advisor in the Area where she lives. Judy also sat on the Manitoba Camp committee and spent 3 years as the Standards chair for the Manitoba Camping Association. Judy retired from volunteering when they moved to Saudi Arabia in 2011.
Second Career as "Shiels Consulting"
After retiring from Manitoba Hydro after more than 37 years, Dan started a new career as a consultant. He formed his own ltd company and signed contracts for consulting work around the world. He worked in Mozambique, East Timore, Liberia and Saudi Arabia. He was General Manager of the Saudi job and Dan & Judy lived full time in Saudi from 2011 to 2015. As the General Manager in Saudi, Dan was quite active with the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh and attended a number of events there including lunch with the Canadian Governor General. He also developed many long lasting friendships with Saudis and other nationalities working in the country. Dan also was the lead on developing a utility based on-line training program that has been used by many countries around the world. Dan retired from Consulting in 2019.
Travelling the World
Dan and Judy have literally travelled the world visiting 61 countries, 7 Canadian Provinces and 38 states in the USA. We have been on a number of Cruise Ships in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.
We truly enjoyed visiting Kruger National Park in South Africa and it was one of the many highlights. During the 5 years living in Saudi Arabia, Dan & Judy visited the Taj Mahol in India, the fountains and desert camps in Dubai, the after effects of the Gulf war in Kuwait, most of the middle eastern countries. Our daughters came to visit us in Saudi and we traveled to Egypt. One of the best memories is the 4 of us riding camels across the Sahara Desert with the Pyramids in the background.
In 2018, Dan & Judy travelled to Texas and purchased a retirement property in Pharr, Texas, just 7 miles from the Mexican border. They spent 6 months of the year in Texas and 6 months in their 5th wheel at Rubber Ducky Resort by Warren, Manitoba. The Texas home was in a 55+ gated community and both Dan & Judy were actively volunteering. They sold their Texas property in 2023 and moved into an apartment in Winnipeg for the winter.
Shiels Family History Book Published
During a relaxing winter in Ossoyos, BC, Dan published his Shiels Family History Book in the spring of 2025. Dan published an earlier book in 2002 and this new book is much larger and more detailed. Hope you enjoy it.