Frederick John Mitchell Frederick John Mitchell ( December 4 , 1893 – December 25 , 1979 ) was a politician in Alberta , Canada , a mayor of Edmonton , and a candidate for election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta . Early life . Fred Mitchell was born December 4 , 1893 in Stratford , Ontario , but had his early education in Elmira . He attended the Berlin Collegiate and Technical Institute , and took up employment with the Elmira Furniture Co . Ltd . upon graduation . He later joined the Metropolitan Bank in Elmira as a stenographer before becoming a registered industrial accountant . In this capacity , he moved to Leross , Saskatchewan in 1913 to work for the Dominion Bank . He remained there until going overseas to serve in World War I . Upon his return , he moved to Edmonton and joined the staff of the G T P Railway . He subsequently joined Oliphant - Munson Collieries ( later renamed Sterling Collieries Co . Ltd . ) in Edmonton , where he was in charge of copper and gold prospecting for thirty years . He married Adele Louise Philip on August 1 , 1922 ; the couple would have a son and a daughter . Mitchell was an exceptional tennis player , and was a provincial singles champion in 1920 . Political career . Mitchell first sought political office in Edmonton ' s 1940 municipal election , when he ran for alderman on Edmonton City Council . He finished sixth of eighteen candidates , and was elected to a two year term . He would be re - elected ten times : in 1942 ( when he placed fifth of twelve candidates ) , 1944 ( fifth of twelve ) , 1946 ( sixth of thirteen ) , 1948 ( second of twelve ) , 1950 ( fourth of twelve ) , 1952 ( third of eight ) , 1954 ( third of eighteen ) , 1956 ( first of nine ) , 1960 ( first of eighteen ) , and 1962 ( first of thirteen ) . He retired from politics in 1964 without ever having lost a municipal election ; in fact , the only break in his twenty - four years as alderman took place from September to October 1959 when he was appointed mayor by city council to replace William Hawrelak , who had resigned . In October , Elmer Ernest Roper was elected mayor , and Mitchell ( who had not run ) resumed the interrupted aldermanic term to which he had been elected in 1958 . This incident makes Mitchell both the shortest - serving mayor in Edmonton ' s history and the only one never to have run for the position ( while neither Cornelius Gallagher nor Terry Cavanagh were ever elected mayor , both ran unsuccessfully at some point in their respective careers ) . At the time of his retirement , he was the longest serving alderman in Edmonton ' s history , although both Ed Leger and Ron Hayter have since surpassed him . Mitchell was less successful in his forays into provincial politics . He belonged to the Conservative Party of Alberta , which was a marginal force during Mitchell ' s involvement in the early 1950s . He ran for the party in the riding of Edmonton during the 1952 provincial election , but finished twenty - fourth out of twenty - nine candidates on the first ballot ( the riding used a single transferable vote electoral system at the time ) and was not elected . He fared only slightly better in his second and final attempt in the 1955 provincial election , when he finished twenty - third out of thirty candidates in the same riding . Personal life , death , and legacy . After his retirement , Mitchell continued to live in the Edmonton home he had purchased in 1936 for $ 650 . He served on the city ' s development appeal board , and was a lifetime member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy . At the age of 84 , he quit playing badminton in order to concentrate on tennis . Frederick John Mitchell died on Christmas Day , 1979 . Mitchell Industrial , an Edmonton neighbourhood , is named in his honour .