Muthada Boora Family
Baljinder (Bal) Sing Boora first came to Canada in September 1972, originally settling in Toronto. After just five months, he boarded a train to Western Canada and hopped off the line in Brooks, Alta. There, he put his civil engineering skills to work.
Over the next 30 years, Boora designed and analyzed water management systems throughout southern Alberta. It certainly wasn’t easy. He was laid off twice and unexpectedly lost his first wife, Jasvir Kaur Boora, when his sons Navraj (Raj) Singh and Parveen (Par) Singh were just 13- and 11-years-old, respectively. He tried and fell short seven times to run for office at the city and provincial levels of government. All the while, he continued to pick himself up, relying on his work ethic and sense of civic responsibility to lead the way.
After remarrying Jaswant Kaur Boora and having a third son, Naveenjyote (Jyote) Singh, Boora started his own financial services firm. His three boys, instilled with their father’s values, attended and graduated from the U of L.
Impact
Bal started thinking about an old RRSP he started when he first arrived in Lethbridge, some 35-plus years ago. He also thought of the pioneering men who made education a community priority in his homeland and how they mirrored the maverick attitudes of those who pushed for the establishment of the U of L so many years before.
“We were sitting one night and I told my sons I don’t think my wife needs the money and I don’t think they need that money in inheritance, so why don’t we give this to the University,” says Boora. “This country has given us so much. This community was here, I didn’t build it, I just came and started working. I think I’m going to leave a legacy here.”