Pettick, Joseph (1924-)

Joseph Pettick has been in practice as an architect in Saskatchewan for more than 50 years. The highlights of his career include the design of several of Regina's tall buildings: the Saskatchewan Power Corporation (1963), the Saskatchewan Government Insurance (1974), the Regina City Hall (1976), and the Bank of Montreal (1981). Born in Hungary, he immigrated to Canada as a child with his mother, joining his father on a farm in the Kipling area. The family relocated to Regina during the Depression, and when World War II broke out Joseph joined the navy as a stoker first class, working on a frigate. On his discharge, he began an apprenticeship with the Regina architectural firm, Portnall and Stock, receiving professional accreditation in 1954. During this time, he achieved the position of associate and chief draftsman, but was unable to participate in design work, which was regularly given to architects with academic credentials. To rectify this situation, he spent a year studying at the University of Oklahoma in Norman with renowned American expressionist architect Bruce Goff, and with Mendel Glickman, engineer for several of Frank Lloyd Wright's major works. When Pettick returned to Regina in 1955, Portnall and Stock offered him a partnership and the prospect of heading a branch office in Saskatoon, which he declined in favour of starting his own firm. In 1956, after a chance meeting with David Cass-Beggs, general manager of the Saskatchewan Power Corporation, he was offered the job to start preliminary studies of the program, location and design of the company's new head office in Regina. Pettick was granted an honorary doctor of laws from the University of Regina in 2005.

Bernard Flaman