Percy Klaehn

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Percy Carl Klaehn (Sept 10, 1895 – May 8, 1984) was a Canadian educator, soldier, and politician who served as mayor of Saskatoon from 1963 to 1964.

Born in Valleyfield, Quebec, Klaehn moved west as a child. He fought in World War I with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and was wounded at Vimy Ridge. At the start of World War II, he joined the Saskatoon Light Infantry, later commanded The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, and took part in the Normandy invasion in 1944. He also led the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade in Belgium and headed the Canadian School of Infantry in England. He retired from the army as a Brigadier-General in 1958 and was named honorary lieutenant-colonel of the North Saskatchewan Regiment.

Between the wars, Klaehn taught in Saskatoon, North Battleford, and Weyburn. He also coached high school athletes, including Ethel Catherwood, who won Olympic gold in 1928. He was elected to Saskatoon city council in 1958 and served there until he became mayor in 1963 after Sidney Buckwold’s resignation. He lost his bid for reelection in 1964 to E. J. Cole in a notable upset.

Klaehn and his first wife Eve had two children, David and Carolyn. With his second wife Helen, he had a daughter, Laura, and a step-daughter, Valerie. After leaving politics, he returned to teaching, serving as principal of Biggar Composite School and teaching in Rosetown and Harris, before moving back to Saskatoon. He died there in 1984 at age 88 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery with Helen, who died in 1997. Klaehn was an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.