Mekkel George Lind was born May 16, 1915, at Nordegg, Alberta, and completed his education in 1934. Single, he lived at Innisfail, Alberta, where he worked as a well driller before enlisting at Calgary, Alberta, on June 10, 1941. Mekkel served with the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War as a Petty Officer Stoker aboard HMCS Athabaskan (G07). A Tribal-class destroyer, HMCS Athabaskan patrolled the Iceland–Faroe Passage in 1943 and participated in Operation GEARBOX III at Spitsbergen, Norway. While patrolling off the coast of France with her sister Tribal-class destroyer HMCS Haida, HMCS Athabaskan was torpedoed by the German torpedo boat T24 during the early hours of April 29, 1944. One of 128 crew members who lost their lives in the sinking, Petty Officer Stoker Mekkel George Lind was 28 years old. Having no known grave, he is commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia. He was the son of Jørgen “George” and Helga Amelia (née Anderson) Lind of Innisfail, Alberta; the brother of Jager, Norman, Walberg “Wally” Charles, Sjeldrup Victor, Esther Catherine, Audrey Almira, Freda Lorraine Barbara, and Andrew Lind, who died in 1930. Athabaskan Island, near Bella Bella, British Columbia, was named in honour of HMCS Athabaskan. Decorations and medals: 1939–1945 Star, Atlantic Star, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Clasp, and War Medal 1939–1945.

'Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.'