Stanley Harwood McCuaig

After the war, McCuaig returned to Edmonton and resumed working with Rutherford. On September 17, 1919, McCuaig married Rutherford's daughter, Hazel Rutherford.^[8] The wedding took place in the Rutherford family home, now a museum. Together, the couple had four children: two sons and two daughters.^{[9][10][11][12]}

McCuaig and his family were long-time members of First Presbyterian Church of Edmonton.^[13] The family were also active in the Edmonton community. Stanley served on the boards of many organizations, including the United Way, and as chairman of the board for both the Misrecordia Hospital and of the Sisters of Our Lady in Refuge.

In 1936, McCuaig purchased a summer cottage for Hazel at Kapasiwin as a birthday present. The same year, he was elected to the Kapasiwin Summer Village Council.^[14] He served on the village council until 1942.^[15]

McCuaig practiced with the Rutherford firm for many years, becoming a full partner in 1923 alongside his brother-in-law Cecil Rutherford.^[16] In 1939, he left to establish his own firm, McCuaig, Desrochers, Beckingham & McDonald, which continues today as McCuaig Desrochers LLP. In 1948, his son Eric McCuaig joined the firm. McCuaig practiced law in Edmonton for almost 60 years, setting very high practice standards for himself and for the firm.^[17]

In 1949 and 1950, McCuaig was the president of the Canadian Bar Association, a voluntary professional association of lawyers across Canada.^[18] He was also made an honorary member of the American Bar Association in 1949.^[5] From 1952 to 1953, he served as the president of the Law Society of Alberta, the regulatory body for lawyers in Alberta. Some twenty years later, his son Eric McCuaig was also elected president of the Law Society.^[19]

Following a lengthy illness, McCuaig died in Edmonton on February 11, 1986. He is buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Throughout his life, he received many awards in recognition of his public and legal. In 1949, Queen's University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.^[4] In recognition of his public service service, he was named Edmonton's "citizen of the year" in 1955.^[20] In 1972 he was named to the Order of Canada and received the Bene Merenti medal from Pope Paul VI the following year for his work with charitable causes, including the Misericordia Hospital and Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul (Halifax).^[21][2]

The Dr. Stanley Harwood McCuaig Scholarship is awarded at Queen's Law School to students with high standing in courses in Property Law, Business Associations and Commercial Law.^[22]